


Forks and Hills

by FishofaFeather



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: BAMF Stiles, Crossover Pairings, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Stiles-centric, The Wolfpack (Twilight) - Freeform, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-02-26 13:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2653259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FishofaFeather/pseuds/FishofaFeather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles visits Forks and runs into some werewolves. No one is surprised</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not finished writing this yet, it's was just going to be a really long one-shot but it's kind of taken on a life of it's own. I hope you enjoy what I have so far.

The first time Stiles visited Forks it was the summer before he started high school. His Dad was doing this whole _'Crossing Boundaries'_ program between different police departments where they are supposed to get together and compare notes. His Dad was supposed to be meeting with the Chief of the local Police force; Chief Swan or something like that. Stiles decided to tag along because there wasn't anything better to back in Beacon Hills. 

Forks was definitely different from Beacon Hills to say the least. It was a small town in Washington with only about 3500 people and as far as Stiles could tell the only reason anyone ever came to visit was to fish. The godforsaken town didn't even have a decent motel; Stiles and his Dad were borrowing the guest bedroom and her son's practically empty post-college bedroom from an officer named Nancy Sinclair, who was without a doubt one of the nicest people Stiles had ever met. 

Anyway, Stiles was bored- like bored-out-of-his-mind bored. It had been raining pretty consistently for the two days he'd been here and it showed no signs of stopping. With his Dad and Nancy both at work he'd been steadily running out of things to do. As much as he hates to admit it TV, video games and books can only entertain a person for so long. At this point a little rain wasn't enough to keep him trapped inside anymore.

Grabbing a rain jacket and borrowing a bicycle from the garage Stiles picked the direction he thought headed back into town and started biking. Not that Stiles would ever admit it to anyone who asked but he ended up getting rather lost. The farther he went the less of civilization he saw. The trees reached higher into the sky than any Stiles had ever seen before and the bushes along the roadside seemed to reach towards him, trying to draw him in. Still he biked along and by rationalizing that there must be something cool up ahead. Like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

When at last he started seeing homes again Stiles had to restrain his relief. Somehow he had managed to end up in a place called La Push instead of Forks. Stiles wasn't sure how it was possible but La Push was even smaller than Forks, and judging from the lack of police station they even shared Forks puny squad as well. He passed some homes, a post office, an RV park, what he thought was a beach and a marina until a small museum broadcasting the history of the local Quileute tribe drew him in, and out of the rain. 

There were several exhibits full of tools and describing the lifestyle that the tribe once would have had. Stiles looked at them, reading each and every explanation plague and letting his imagination run wild with stories; absorbing as much as he could in the process. This was the most interesting thing he had seen in days. The legend of Taha Aki and the Spirit Chiefs was his favorite. Stiles could almost see the wolves running through the woods and protecting the tribe from the retched Cold Ones. The story of the third wife had him mentally debating what would actually drive someone to sacrifice themselves for another. Movies made it seem so easy to push someone to do it because that's what heros did. They saved everyone. He wondered how accurate the story actually was, and how it had changed as it was passed down through the generations. Stiles managed to waste most of his day there, wandering around the small museum and enjoyed every second of it. 

The sun was already beginning to set as Stiles started his bike ride home. He knew he shouldn't have stayed as long as he did. His Dad was going to worry and it was getting dark now. The trees seemed to have a darker edge to them that was absent earlier, it made him nervous and twitchy. Which is never a good combination.The branches grabbed at him now and the cold rain bit at his face and made his fingers go numb.

Suddenly a loud rustle from up ahead had Stiles slamming on the brakes, and his heart jumping into his throat. The tires of the bike skidded on the loose gravel of the road and he went tumbling into the ditch. Pain seared along his elbows and up his arms. Stiles lay there for a moment stunned. _What the fuck was with him?_ He nearly had a panic attack at the sound of some animal in the bushes. All those legends had gone to his head. _A wolf was not going to come out and eat him. He was not a tasty snack. Wolves prefer deer and rabbits and other stuff; not stringy Stiles meat._

Lights flashed in the distance and the familiar rumble of a car echoed in Stiles' ears. _Oh god, just perfect. A witness._ Stiles could feel his embarrassment brewing under his skin. This was just what he needed. He closed his eyes and prayed that the abandoned bike on the side of the road wouldn't be noticed. 

He was.

"Hey man, you ok?" A voice sounded from somewhere above him.

"Err- yup. Just perfect, dandy, superb." Stiles cringed at the way his voice cracked. 

"Need some help?" Male. The voice definitely belonged to a guy. 

"I'm good, I think I'll just lay here until I die of embarrassment." Stiles babbled. 

Mystery man laughed. A deep kinda chuckle that made Stiles' insides so mushy in a way he didn't even want to being to think about, "You shouldn't be out in this rain."

Stiles scoffed, as if he ever actually listened to anyone, "Well I gotta get around somehow."

"Where are you headed? I'll give you a lift." Stiles wished more than anything this stranger with a nice voice would leave him alone.

"No, no, no, it's ok. I'm just taking a little break."

Ignoring his protests Stiles could hear the clang of metal on metal as his bike was moved. Groaning softly to himself Stiles pulled himself to his feet.

The guy coming to his rescue- or kid actually looked about Stiles age. He was turned away from Stiles closing the back of an old blue pickup truck with his bike and a few fishing rods already tucked into the back. Mystery Man had long black hair, really long black hair, longer than Stiles saw most girls wear it. He was skinny bordering on scrawny but he didn't have the same awkwardness that Stiles wore like a badge of honor. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and an old hunting jacket. It took nearly all his self control not to melt back into a self conscious puddle on the ground when the guy turned around and smiled at him. Stiles really needed to get control of himself.

"My name is Embry. Embry Call." Mystery Man- _Embry_ \- offered Stiles his hand.

Trying, and failing to act casual. Stiles shook his hand, "Umm, Stilinski, no Stiles. Fuck. I'm Stiles Stilinski."

Embry smiled again, "Well Stiles, where are you headed on this fine evening?" 

Instead of answering Stiles put his foot in his mouth, "Are you even old enough to drive?" 

The retorting snort answered his question, "Do you want a ride or not?" 

Stiles did; being out in the rain sucked.

Embry drove and made small talk. He was from the reserve and had been headed home from a day of fishing but seeing Stiles on the ride of the road Embry just had to be his knight in shining armor; it turns out Stiles was hella lost and Forks was in the complete opposite direction of the way he had been going; his theory about nothing exciting ever happening in this town was true, and the only thing Embry could think of to do for fun was cliff diving but Stiles didn't really have the urge to die on his summer vacation. Stiles tried his best not to make a fool of himself. He was able to thank Embry for the ride without stuttering or tripping over his words or blabbering. On a whole Stiles counted that as a success. Still Stiles didn't go back to La Push for the rest of his trip, but he told himself it had nothing to do with seeing Embry again. 

At the end of the week Stiles and his Dad went back to Beacon Hills and Stiles forgot about Embry. 

Until next summer that is. 


	2. Chapter 2

It turns out his Dad had become rather good friends with Chief Swan. Stiles imagined they bonded over all the unexplained animal attacks. So when Nancy once again offered her empty bedrooms, they packed up their bags, his Dad took some time off work again and Stiles said goodbye to Scott and all the werewolf chaos. He felt bad for leaving Scott when he was still adjusting but all Scott could focus on was Allison. Stiles figured he'd hardly be missed unless something went wrong. 

Forks was predictable. It rained and Stiles hung out by himself. He read through the stack of books he'd brought with him in a matter of days, played video games until his eyes ached and then somehow he ended up doing more werewolf research. Stiles had been joking when he first told Scott it was a werewolf bite but now nothing seemed black-and-white anymore.

Stiles couldn't help but remember the Quileute legends, they kind of seemed like werewolves too, but more like Laura. If the legends where true then they weren't caught between forms like Scott was when he shifted. As he googled Stiles was amazed at the amount of cultures that had werewolf like legends. Argentina and Brazil had one regarding the 7th son, there were legends about being cursed by witches, Norse legends about wearing the skin of the animal you wanted to shift into, Russian legends about the spirit of the wolf taking over your soul and there was one about drinking water from the footprint of a wolf. With all of these legends from across the world, and from cultures that normally wouldn't have had any contact until thousands of years later Stiles couldn't bring himself to be surprised that at least one of them was true. 

The first time that Stiles saw the sun in Forks he decided to go for a walk through the woods. The sun was a treasure and he wasn't going to waste it doing research on the thing he came here to escape. Stiles doubted that anything the woods could hide would ever scare him anymore. It was Peter who haunted his nightmares not bears or cougars or the boogeyman. He couldn't look at Lydia anymore without seeing her bloodied body on the lacrosse field. Right where he'd left her. He couldn't even cook meat without the phantom smell of Peter's burning flesh. 

The only good thing that seemed to come out of Scott being bitten was that Stiles sense of direction seemed to improve. Running around in the woods at night can do that to a person. He jumped over logs, walking slowly, and listening to the songs of birds around him. This was the first time in months he'd been in the woods without someone trying to kill him.

"Hey!" Stiles turned to see a tall, tan man with short dark hair approaching him. Stiles felt his brain almost short circuit, he was wearing nothing but a pair of beige shorts and god did he look good.

Stiles flailed a little bit, "Ugh, me?" 

"Ya, you." It was a serious challenge not to stare at the dudes abs, "What do you think you are doing this far out into the woods?" Stiles clenched his jaw at the guys tone. 

"I'm looking for a good place to conduct my satanic rituals." Stiles sassed. 

The guy blinked, "Stiles?"

What the fuck? Who was this guy? Stiles shifted uncomfortable and mentally traced the route back to the house just in case he needed to run for his life. Again. "Who is asking?" 

"Dude, it's me, Embry." 

"Embry? What the fuck happened to you?" This wasn't the Embry he remembered. This Embry was equivalent to Derek Hale on the attractiveness scale. The skinny kid who liked to fish was gone, replaced by a monstrous clone with chiseled abs and enjoyed lurking about in the woods. Embry was now well over 6 feet tall and had muscled rippling across his chest that Stiles didn't even know could ripple. What kind of steroids was he taking? He watched Stiles with dark eyes.

Embry shifted and didn't meet Stiles eyes, "Eh, puberty is killer."

Stiles raised an eyebrow at him. Scott was a better liar than that, "Puberty?"

"You should be careful out in the woods. Wouldn't want you to get lost." Embry ran his fingers through his hair and smiled. It was almost enough to distract Stiles from the fact he was changing the subject. 

Stiles just smirked back, "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it. I'll be fine." 

The look of shock on Embry's face was totally worth it. Stiles had forgotten how much fun it was dealing with people who didn't know him very well. Laughing softly to himself and started to leave.

"Stiles! I am serious these woods are dangerous." Embry called after him.

"I doubt they are any worse than back home." Stiles replied without stopping. 

The trip ended a couple days later and Stiles went back to the world of werewolves and hunters and motherfucking mythical creatures. A couple times over the year Stiles thought of Embry and what he was doing, what he would think of everything, he even wondered if maybe the Quileute legends were true. Stiles didn't have time to dwell though, a giant lizard man was attacking people and he had more important shit to do if everyone was going to survive till the end of the year.


	3. Chapter 3

Once again Stiles and his Dad came back next year. After being beaten by Gerard and the endless lies to his father this week was supposed to be a break, a chance to reconnect with his father and himself. Stiles could see the pain in his Dad's eyes because of the secrets he kept but Stiles couldn't even imagine where to start explaining. His Dad worked less this time around, they went to the movies together and a restaurant called The Lodge. It was nice to spend time with his Dad again, but Stiles couldn't help but think about the tension between the packs he had left behind. Erica and Boyd were missing and the Alpha Pack was coming. 

"Have you met anyone your own age around here?" His Dad asked that night at dinner. 

This was the 3rd year they'd been here, of course his Dad would want him to have met people, "Uhh, ya." He lied. The only person he'd met who he didn't live with was Embry, and they'd only spoken twice. Stiles wasn't even sure how old he was, he'd thought they were about the same age at first but now he couldn't tell.

"Oh really?" His Dad replied obviously surprised that Stiles have never mentioned anyone.

"Embry. Embry Call. He lives on the reservation." Stiles started shoving food into his mouth so he'd stop talking.

His Dad looked at him oddly, the hurt look in his eyes returning,"That's nice."

Stiles needed to fix this. He couldn't tell his Dad the truth, but maybe there was something else he could do, "Can you teach me self defense?"

"Why do you need to know how to fight?"

"Not fight, self defense. I want to know how to defend myself in case anything.....like what happened before....happens again." It wouldn't be much against a werewolf but he'd never be at Gerard's mercy again. He hated feeling weak. He hated that feeling of helplessness that ate away at his stomach. 

His Dad nodded and Stiles let the subject drop. It wasn't much but it was improvement.

The next day his Dad started teaching him the basics, what to do if someone attacked him, how to take a punch, how to disarm someone with a weapon, how to throw a punch. Stiles picked most of the techniques up fairly easily. Being a cop's son had it's benefits. Then during the day or sometimes at night he would sneak out and practice with a knife. Just a small silver hunting knife he liberated from the Argent's weapon collection, that was easily concealed. He figured if he needed too he could coat it in wolfsbane or some other kind of poison.

It was halfway through the week when Stiles first heard the howling. He was out practicing in the woods, rhythmically slashing at trees as he tried to mimic the techniques his Dad showed him for fist fighting. His Dad was inside with Nancy- both of them already asleep. The howls started with a single long, lonely howl. Then other started to join, more and more until there was a whole chorus of wolves singing in the night. Without even realizing it he stopped mid-swing just to listen. The howls sounded close, really close. Stiles remember what he told Scott about wolf howls. Signals for the rest of the pack.

Other than a few werewolves, Stiles had never seen a real wolf. He wondered how similar they were to Scott and Derek and the rest of the pack. Walking quickly, he headed in the general direction of the howls.

The woods were dark at night but Stiles didn't mind, he had the light of the moon behind him so it wasn't to difficult to see where he was going. After a while he started to hear crashes and rustles and loud growls. Ducking low, Stiles crept slowly through the underbrush and hoped they wouldn't smell him. 

What he saw was not what he was expecting. They were wolves, yes, but they were larger than bears. Five monstrous beasts, even the smallest one was over five feet tall and looked thicker than a tree trunk. Each of them was without a doubt over two hundred pounds of pure muscle and fur and primal instinct. Two had variations of brown fur, there was a lighter and a darker gray one and the largest one was almost completely black. Stiles could feel the his heart racing and the beginnings of a panic attack begin to set in. These were not regular wolves. 

He watched in complete shock as the darker brown one and the lighter gray one lunged at each other snapping viciously. The brown wolf latched his jaws around the scruff of the gray one's neck and in one sweeping motion he tossed the other wolf like it was a rag-doll. The wolf went crashing into the tree off to Stiles right, nearly bring down the tree as well. 

A small _meep_ of panic escaped Stiles lips. All the wolves froze. 

Stiles took off running blindly into the woods. _Holy mother of god they were going to catch him and eat him._ His lungs burned with the need for oxygen and his muscles cramped, but Stiles' body was coursing with adrenaline and he couldn't focus on anything other than the need to get away. He could hear the beasts crashing through the woods behind him and it only made him panic more. 

Suddenly the woods ended and Stiles went staggering out onto a road. He had no idea where he was, only the panic inducing anxiety that if the wolves caught up they wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

"Stiles! Stiles stop running!" Stiles swears he must have had a heart attack.

Embry burst from the woods running towards Stiles. Completely stark naked. Stiles did the only logical thing to do at that point. He panicked. Curling up into fetal position, he was breathing in awkward wheezing gasps, as his body began to over-saturate his system with oxygen, it felt like the wolves were closing in on him and no matter what he did he couldn't get away. There was no escaping it.

"Stiles, relax. You are ok." His skin burned where Embry touched him, "Just relax Stiles, focus on your breathing, you are going to be ok." 

Embry continued to talk soothingly and rub his arms up and down Stiles' arms as his body shook with tremors. The last thing he wanted to do was faint, he wanted to be awake and fighting when those sons of bitches tried to rip out his throat. Gradually Stiles started to focus on the breathing tricks his Dad taught him as a kid. As his breathing slowed so did his heartbeat. He was in control. 

"Man, are you ok?" Embry asked, still not letting him go.

"God- where the fuck are your clothes?" Stiles gasped as soon as his voice returned to him. 

"Ummm...."Only now did Embry have the decency to look embarrassed, "I lost them in the woods?"

"And here I was thinking the satanic rituals where my specialty." Stiles joked to hide his fear. There was no way in hell those were regular wolves. Giant Wolves + Naked Embry + Quileute legends = More Motherfucking Werewolves. 

Embry let out an awkward chuckle, "Ummm Stiles...."

"-How long have you been one?" Stiles interrupted. He knew what was coming next, Embry was going to try and convince him he didn't just see what he totally just saw. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Don't lie to me Embry." Stiles threatened, "I am not an idiot."

"Stiles I have no idea what your talking about." 

"Werewolves." Stiles growled, "How long have you been one?" 

Embry seemed to deflate at his words, "Almost a year now."

"Bitten or born?"

"What do you mean bitten?" That confirmed Stiles suspicion. Embry was definitely a different kind of werewolf than Scott and Derek. Stiles had so many questions he wanted to ask but the exhaustion was setting in, the adrenaline had faded from his system leaving him drowsy and practically incoherent. 

"When Nancy and my Dad leave for work tomorrow, come over." If Embry had anything against being ordered around he didn't show it. 

"Your not afraid of me?" Stile didn't justify that with an answer instead he pulled himself to his feet started walking home; leaving Embry standing in the middle of the street in nothing but his birthday suit.

-

Nancy and his Dad left at the regular time the next morning. Embry showed up about an hour later as Stiles was making breakfast. 

"Come on in," Stiles mumbled through the bagel stuck in his mouth as he let Embry in through the front door and led him back to the kitchen. 

Embry looked out of place and uncomfortable in Nancy's small kitchen, "How did you know?" 

Stiles had been wondering how to answer that question all night, he didn't really trust Embry - not enough to give away his best friends greatest secret. Instead he shrugged, "I've heard the legends. Seen some odd stuff before. This wasn't much of a stretch."

"You can't tell anyone, please!" Embry pleaded with puppy dog eyes that matched Scott's, "They'll take us away from our families, our homes, -"

"I promise I won't" Stiles interrupted, "How did you become a werewolf?"

Embry looked like Stiles had just proposed to him, "Thank you, you have no idea what that means to us."

Ya he did, but Embry didn't need to know that. Stiles motioned for Embry to sit down at the table and then sat down beside him, "Us? You and your...pack?"

"Ya," Embry flashed him a dazzling smile, "There are five of us, as you saw last night. It's a genetic thing, passed down through through the men in our tribe so we could protect them from the Cold Ones." 

Stiles remembered the legend of the Cold Ones, he really shouldn't have been as shocked as he was, "Vampires?"

Embry looked surprised that Stiles made the connection, "Ya, there is a family of them nearby. That's why we've all started to shift." 

Werewolves Stiles could deal with. Vampires on the other hand were a bit out of his league, "And you all turn into giant wolves?"

"It's actually really cool we can all hear each others thoughts and -"

"You can hear each others thoughts?" Scott definitely couldn't do that.

"Ya it was really odd at first, but you get used to it." 

"Whoa, that is so cool." Stiles couldn't even imagine having another person sharing his head, "Does your pack have the same hierarchy as a wolf pack?" 

Embry looked confused for a moment, "Well we have Sam he's our Alpha." 

Stiles nodded, "What about the full moon?"

"The full moon doesn't bother us at all. We can shift whenever we want to - though sometimes anger can make us loose control." All Stiles could think of was how the moon influenced Scott's emotions, it made him snappy, and angry and so fucking horny that he even made out with Lydia that one time. 

"So you're shifters then." Stiles summarized; remembering all his research on different categories of werewolves. 

"Shifters?" 

"Ya, a shifter is someone who can change skins but can still think and act like a human. There is also the Wolfman version, which is someone who changes into something that's half wolf and half man, literally like the Wolfman and finally there is the traditional Werewolf who looses all control of himself on the full moon and attacks anything in sight." The Beacon Hills wolves were all of the Wolfman variety, though if Derek was right about Laura they could become shifters as well.

"You seem to know a lot about werewolves."

Stiles shrugged rather than answer.

"Anyway, Sam has invited you to have dinner with the pack tomorrow night." _-so he could make sure your not a threat._ The unspoken words echoed in Stiles head.

Stiles had to admit he was curious about the rest of Embry's pack, but also concerned about letting anything about his own pack slip. He'd been attacked by his own best friend. He'd seen Erica and Boyd strung up and electrocuted by hunters. He saw the burned remains of Derek's old life; the broken pieces of the person he used to be. He lied to his father on a daily basis because being a werewolf- being involved with werewolves was dangerous. 

Embry smiled. He was friendly. He was trusting. It was like all the demons that haunted Stiles at night didn't exist for him. Stiles couldn't help but think he was naive. Embry didn't know how sheltered he was here, hidden away from the rest of the world. 

"Ya sure." Stiles forced a smile back, "Just let me ask my Dad."

"Of course" Embry nodded, "I'll pick you up at 6."

Stiles' Dad said yes of course. He was just glad to see Stiles out of the house and meeting new people but he also didn't know that it was an entire pack of werewolves who would have no problem ripping Stiles to shreds and using him as a toothpick should the need arise.

Stiles open up his laptop and started typing an email to Derek and Deaton, casually asking if they knew if there were subspecies of werewolves or shifters with abilities like Embry had described; he worded it more like he had found some interesting research and less like he accidentally discovered another pack of werewolves on his vacation. The email he sent it Scott was much less supernatural related, instead he talked about his new friend Embry and how he had been invited over for dinner. Stiles hoped that if Embry's pack did decide to murder or kidnap him, those idiots would be able to figured it out. Hopefully.

Embry was right on time to pick Stiles up. Stiles had to resist the urge to make a comment about how he wasn't a cheap date. Instead he nearly worked himself into a panic thinking of all the things that could go wrong.

"So how many people did you say were in your pack again?" Stiles asked.

"There are five of us right now but we are expecting my friend Quil to shift soon." Embry replied.

"How do you know he's going to shift at all? I mean there's no guarantee right?" 

Embry shifted uncomfortably, "True, but he is a direct descendant from the last pack. If anyone is still going to shift it would be him."

"Tell me about the vampires." Stiles liked to hear Embry talk. It made him feel calmer.

"There is a local family of vampires who live in Forks. They first met the tribe sometime in the 1930's, and because they don't drink from humans we sort of have a truce from them. They don't kill or turn anyone and we don't kill them. Simple as that." Embry explained, "They've moved after a while, it's hard for the bloodsuckers to stay in one place and all on account of the not aging thing but the family has grown and now they have returned and it's our job to keep everyone safe."

Stiles 'hmmnn'ed to show he was listening. What Embry was describing seemed so different than what Scott and Derek were. He wasn't even sure if he would even consider them werewolves anymore.

"What are vampires like?" 

Embry got this dark look on his face, "Pale, cold, and they smell like walking corpses." 

"How do you kill one?" Knowing Beacon Hills this information just might come in handy.

Embry looked startled that Stiles would actually ask that question, "You rip them up into little pieces and set them on fire."

Stiles nodded, "Is everyone at this thing a werewolf?"

"No, there is going to be Emily; Sam's fiance as well as the council there as well." Embry glanced at him, "Don't worry I'll introduce you to everyone."

Eventually Embry pulled into the drive way of a cute little house on the outskirts of the reserve. Stiles thought it looked more like a hunter's cabin than an actual house. It was logged, about a single story high with a quaint front porch, a couple rectangular windows and there was well cut backyard peaking around the corner.The house was also completely surrounded by dense forest. Which essentially made it the perfect place for people who live on both 4 legs and on 2. 

Embry beckoned Stiles out of the car with a grin, "I swear we won't bite." 

Stiles chuckled. If only the rest of the pack was as fluffy as Embry.

When Stiles reached the door there was a small woman with black hair and distinct claw shaped scars running down half her face standing there smiling like was exactly what she had been waiting for.

"You must be Stiles, I am Emily. Please come on in" Emily grabbed Stiles forearm and practically dragged him inside. Behind him, Stiles could here Embry laughing.

The house really wasn't big enough for the amount of people they had shoved into such a small space. The remains of a living room had been turned into one endless table with an assortment of chairs all randomly arranged around it. Stiles could see a couch pushed off into one corner and a tv pushed into the other. People milled around everywhere, but at that moment all eyes where on him. He could feel the beginnings of a blush creep up the back of his neck.

Emily dragging him through the living room and into the kitchen. His mouth watered instantly at the smell of the cooking food, "Oh my god! That smells delicious."

Emily blushed, "You think so?"

Stiles just nodded to absorbed in the food to answer properly.

"Well cooking for a pack of werewolves, requires the skill of a champion." Embry laughed as slid into the room, "Is it almost ready yet?"

Emily eyed him suspiciously, "Yes, but you are going to wait until dinner before you get your grubby little hands on it."

"Of course ma'am!" Embry gasped in mock horror.

Emily reached forward and smacked Embry lightly across the arm. Just as another man swooped up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist, "It's nice to meet you Stiles, I am Sam."

"The all-mighty-Alpha, it's a pleasure." Stiles grinned cheekily back. Sam was tall, dark haired, and just as muscular as Embry- if not more. He had the same Quileute heritage showing through his tan skin and sharp cheekbones. Stiles wasn't sure how the Alpha status was earned in Embry's pack but something told him that Sam was definitely the strongest wolf in the room. Stiles just hoped he was a decent Alpha as well, it could mean the difference of life and death for him.

"I hope you understand the importance of why we keep what we are a secr-"

Stiles had to resist the urge to roll his eyes, "Don't worry about it, pops. My lips are sealed." He knew better than to let Sam get started up, he was already preaching to the choir- he just didn't know it, "So Emily, is there anything I can do to help?"

Sam and Emily both looked shocked. Stiles got the feeling it was for two entirely different reasons.

"Ya, sure. Would you mind setting the table for me?" Emily directed him to the cabinets. 

Stiles knew kitchens, he'd been cooking for his Dad and himself since his Mom died, now that Scott had his furry problem he tended to cook for the entire pack when they weren't trying to kill each other. He was good at this. Emily showed him how she wanted it set, and after that he found himself moving almost on instinct. Embry joined him and together the work got done quit quickly despite the size of the table.

"Wow, the guy's been here for less than an hour and you've already put him to work." Stiles turned and met another god-among-mortals. Short black hair, brown eyes that could only be described as _smoldering_ , and so many muscles, "You've even got Embry working. I underestimated you Em." 

"Oh Jake, the boys volunteered." Emily replied sticking her head out of the kitchen. 

"Stiles, meet Jacob Black. Jacob meet Stiles." Embry introduced.

Stiles nodded, "Nice to meet you."

"You're serious the kid who managed to figure it all out?" Jacob asked.

"Yup, that's me." Stiles replied slowly.

"How'd you do it?" Jacob asked curiously.

Stiles shrugged, "I heard the legends a couple years ago, then my worst nightmare came to life- giant wolves and a _very_ naked Embry chasing me through the woods. After that it wasn't too hard to put the pieces together." 

Stiles had mastered the art of telling half truths. Scott couldn't even use his heartbeat to tell if he was lying anymore. Werewolves skills or not lying was one of the few things no one could beat Stiles at. Jacob nodded in acceptance; but the spark in his eyes spoke of a little too much interest. 

"What do you mean your worst nightmare?" Embry looked mildly offended at Stiles words.

"Don't worry big guy, any girl would be impressed with you." Stiles gave him a saucy grin and patted Embry on the arm, "It's not your fault I have standards." 

Embry let out a shocked gasp and Jacob roared with laughed. Stiles even caught Emily smothering a grin and he winked at her. 

Over the course of the night Stiles was introduced to more people he could could. Jacob's father Billy Black, Harry Clearwater and his wife Sue, Quil Ateara the third, his daughter and also Embry's friend Quil's mother Joy Ateara, several other tribe members and apparently there were two other werewolves who were about patrolling the border of their territory. Every single one of them was friendly and nothing less than welcoming. Gradually Stiles began to relax, surviving the night seemed to become less of a futile hope and more of an actual possibility. Of all the people in the room, over half of them had the potential to go furry if the need arose. Stiles and Emily were the only people under 30 who couldn't go furry and while Stiles was used to being outnumbered by supernatural creatures, he wasn't used to them acting so normal. 

It was like a goddamn family barbecue and Stiles was the new boyfriend being brought home for the first time. He didn't know how to deal with this. 

Luckily for him it wasn't until after dinner that the volcano of doom erupted, spewing chaos and disorder.

Another Quileute tribe member burst in through the front door. Judging from his rock hard abs and his state of undress Stiles assumed he was one of the wolves from the patrol. He stormed into the house like he was being chased by demons, "They are back!"

Sam stood up from the table and addressed the panicked werewolf calmly, "Jared, what is going on?"

"The Cullens. They're back." 

Then all hell broke loose - metaphorically of course. People gasped, Jacob got his disappointing look on his face, the tribal elders all glanced nervously at each other, Stiles felt Embry stiffen beside him and Emily looked concernedly up at Sam. While Sam on the other hand showed less expression than a brick wall. 

"Where?"

"We scented them along the highway. We even double checked to make certain they weren't just passing through. They've all come back." Jared seemed to vibrate with nervous energy or anger, Stiles couldn't tell which one it was.

"Where's Paul?" 

"He's outside, he wasn't calm enough to shift back." It seemed like the Quileute wolves were just as affected by their emotions as Derek and Scott were. Stiles carefully categorized that information for later and instead focused on what was happening right now.

"The vampires are the Cullen family?" Stiles laughed harshly, "You've got to be kidding me."

Everyone looked at him. Stiles continued laughing.

"I mean come on! The guy is a goddamned doctor for christ sake." 

"Vampire are no laughing matter." Billy Black scolded. 

"Aren't they supposed to be vegetarian though?" Stiles paused only long enough to see some people nod, "Then what' the big deal? As long as they follow their part of the treaty everything should be cool right?" 

"The problem, Stiles, is Edward's _girlfriend_. She's human." Jared growled at him, "The moment he bites her. Which we all know he will. We are at war." 

"Does she know what they are?"

"Yes." Jacob almost sounded pained as he replied.

"Then it's her decision." That girl knows exactly what she was walking into. There would be no changing her mind now. She would stay for the exact same reason Stiles did; because he saw the people they were underneath the monster. 

"But they are dangerous!" Jared was definitely angry now.

Stiles rolled his eyes, "Everything is dangerous." 

Jared bared his teeth and for a minute Stiles actually thought he was going to attack him.

"Jared!" Sam shouted, once again drawing the attention of the entire room, "Outside now." 

Jared shoved his way back outside and was quickly followed by Sam and Jacob. 

Embry stood up and motioned for Stiles to follow him, "Come on, I'll take you home now. They're just going to go over increasing the patrols and more safety, I don't know when I will be back."

Embry drove him home and that was the last he saw of him for the rest of his trip. Two days later Stiles and his Dad returned to Beacon Hills. When asked neither Deaton or Derek had ever heard of another kind of werewolf. Stiles wished he had asked for Embry's email or phone number. He wondered how the vampire infestation was going and hoped they managed to work it out without bloodshed. His Dad taught his more self-defense, he also cracked and taught Stiles how to fire a gun. Stiles even debated going to Alison or her father to help teach him how to use the knife but then Cora Hale came home and the murders started. Stiles researched magic, vampires, druids and darachs. He watched as Lydia's life fell apart, as Derek killed one of his own betas, as Scott became a true Alpha, he went through his very own sexuality crisis- not that anyone had time to notice and somehow throughout this whole thing Peter just couldn't manage to get himself killed again. 


	4. Chapter 4; Part 1

When winter break came and Stiles' Dad got another invitation to go to Forks and help look for a missing teenage boy. Stiles was so relieved he couldn't even put it into words. Things were chaotic with the pack but that was normal now. Aiden and Ethan had decided to stay and join Scott's pack, Derek had given up his alpha powers to save Cora and was also now one of Scott's betas. Cora had decided to become a nomad and had just left one night a few weeks ago. There was also Isaac and Peter who were there mainly because there was no where else to go. Alison was badass as ever and Lydia was a fucking banshee. Between them Stiles thought they could survive for a few weeks without him. He planned on using the week to relax and check up on Embry's pack. All he really wanted was to spend some time without someone trying to kill him or the people he cared about. 

And really that was too much to ask.

Stiles had been researching magic since Deaton called him a 'spark' last year. That basically meant that with the help of some enhancing objects he could focus his belief and poof! Magic happened. Personally he thought it was all a little to Disney for him; the power of belief? Seriously? Still he couldn't deny what had happened with Jackson, there was no way he had enough mountain ash left in that bag. 

Deaton had told him that he would have to create or alter whatever he choose to focus his magic through because everyone had their own individual magical signature. A person's magical signature was directly related to his or her emotions and personality, as they grew and changed so would their magic. Unless he went through some major life changing or sudden epiphany Stiles would only ever need one object. It was a big decision and until Stiles was ready to make it, Deaton had lent him a large wooden pendant engraved with intricate swirls. It was supposedly made from one of the branches of the Nemeton and had a small amount of it's own magic. Which made it ideal for beginners. 

Stiles twirled the pendant through his fingers. What he was about to attempt was a simple light trick. By focusing on the pendant and believing that he could make it glow, it would or that was the plan. Either way he was sitting in the dark debating his life choices when he would much rather be asleep.

Stiles took a deep breath, closed his eyes and envisioned the pendant that was clutched in his fingers. _He could make it glow. He would make it glow._ Stiles pictured the pendant softly illuminated like a candle, _that was what he wanted_. After a moment his fingertips began to tingle and slowly Stiles opened his eyes again.

The pendant was actually glowing! It was exactly like he pictured it, a soft flickering glow that seemed to be leaking out of the engravings. The light bounced off the walls of his room and Stiles giggled hysterically. He couldn't believe it! Deaton was right. That cryptic bastard was right. Stiles had fucking magic. Harry Potter move over; wands got nothing on his necklace. 

The tingle in his fingers faded and so did the light; but nothing could bring Stiles' spirits down now. He felt like he was flying. It was like he had gone for days without Adderall and overdosed at the same time. He was jittery and high off something that felt a lot like adrenaline but still calm and focused. It was absolutely amazing!

Stiles was too wired to sleep now. Instead he grabbed his coat and went out to the woods, Embry's pack was probably out patrolling and would recognize his scent. Plus he just really wanted to be outside. Running with his wolves had really improved his sense of direction and he could almost manage to jog along in the dark without tripping and falling on his face. There were a few close calls but for the most part it was smooth going. Stiles actually liked to run when he wasn't running for his life, all the adrenaline and none of the life threatening terror.

When a shaggy brown wolf dissolves out of the trees and starts to run beside him Stiles gives the beast a lopsided grin. He lets the wolf worry about where they are going and instead focuses on keeping up. He recognizes the wolf from the last time he saw the pack, but he can tell it's not Embry - Jacob would be Stiles best guess. 

Jacob leads Stiles to a large clearing by the beach, then disappears back into the woods to shift. Stiles just collapsed back onto the sand and stared at the stars. He was feeling less jittery now, but he had an itch under his skin to start spilling secrets. While he waited for Jacob, Stiles began to run through the basic meditation steps Deaton had taught him. Deep rhythmic breathing. Finding his center. Clearing his mind. It made everything seem a little less urgent. 

"Most people would stay out of the woods if they knew what was in them." Jacob's face loomed over Stiles, his hair was longer and he seemed even bigger than Stiles remembered but he still had that cocksure grin plastered on his face. 

"Well obviously I'm not most people." Stiles snarked back, "Have you gotten bigger?"

Jacob's grin grew, "So what brings you here this time?" 

"I missed all my furry little friends." 

"Seriously, Stiles."

"Eh, my Dad is helping Chief Swan look for a missing boy." Stiles shrugged, successfully getting sand down the back of his shirt.

"You really couldn't have come at a worse time." Jacob sighed.

"Why? What's happening?" Stiles sat up in alarm, "Are you all alright?"

Jacob jumped, started but Stiles sudden concern, "What? Ya, we are all OK."

"What is going on?" Stiles demands. 

"There is a vampire in town who blames Bella for her boyfriend's death." Jacob shrugs, "And something bad is happening in Seattle." 

"Wait, Bella Swan? The daughter of Chief Swan? She's the one with the vampire boy friend?" Stiles replied, suddenly connecting all the dots. 

Jacob got this awful look on his face like he'd just smelled something disgusting, "Yes."

"Oh my god! She's an even bigger trouble magnet than I am!" Stiles snickered. 

"You are the strangest person I have ever met." 

Stiles just grinned.

"I have to get back to patrol soon, I'll run with you back to your place." Jacob reached forward to help Stiles to his feet, "And I'll send Embry over first thing in the morning."

Stiles shoved at Jacob as he stood up, "Thanks wolfman."

-

Jacob was true to his word. Embry showed up on Stiles doorstep, at 10 the next morning. A suspicious 20 minutes after Stiles rolled out of bed and judging from the death grip hug Stiles received as he opened the door, Embry hadn't changed at all while Stiles was gone. 

"It's good to see you too!" Stiles laughed wrapping his arms around Embry. 

"How have you been Stiles?" Embry rivaled Scott with his puppy dog expression. That stupid grin made Stile's insides melt.

"Oh good, you know same old me." With added magic, "How's your pack been?"

Stiles felt the itch again. The itch to tell Embry everything. To come clean about his pack, his magic and everything else he'd been carefully omitting. Embry of all people would understand what he was going through. The constant pressure of having people's lives depend on you and the paranoia of being unable to protect them. 

"It's amazing Stiles, we have doubled in size!" Then Embry got this look in his eye, like pride and happiness. "The pack has never been this big before."

Stiles had images of Erica's dead body flash before his eyes. Her matted hair and her bloodied hands from the nights trying to escape. Stiles saw Boyd as he was impaled on Derek's claws, he saw the life fade from Boyd's eyes and heard Boyd's family sobbing as they wondered what happened to their son. Stiles saw Laura as she had once been with Derek; his alpha, his sister. Embry seemed to have all the bonuses of being a werewolf, but he seemed to be missing all the pain and Stiles would never wish the burdens that he has to carry on anyone else. 

So Stiles kept his silence, "That's amazing!"

"We even had a girl shift." Embry continued, "Her name is Leah and whoa, you don't ever want to be on her bad side."

Stiles vaguely remembered Embry mentioning about only males becoming werewolves, "Why do you think she is different?"

Embry paused for a moment, "Well we kind of all expected her brother Seth to shift and if any girl was going to shift it was going to be Leah. The last pack had Ephraim Black, Levi Uley and Quil Atearea II and Leah is related to all of them."

Stiles nodded.

"My friend Quil also shifted." Embry continued, seemingly determined to update Stiles on everything, "It was about time too."

Stiles just raised an eyebrow at that. 

"It was weird before we'd shifted, like Sam created a cult and was recruiting teenagers. Jake, Quil and I used to catch them watching us all the time."

"Why didn't you just tell him?"

"It's Sam's orders. We're not allowed to tell anyone." Embry grinned at him, "Unless of course they figure it out on their own."

"But if he was going to shift anyway, wouldn't it have made it easier on him?" Stiles challenged, "That way he's not thinking his friends just left him, and maybe so he doesn't panic when he starts to shift?"

Embry looked guilty, "I know but I can't disobey Sam and he's not alone. Not really as soon as he starts shifting his thoughts join with ours."

"But what about mood swings? The sickness? Everything else that he might need to know." A cold rage settled in Stiles stomach. If Scott had done that to him Stiles wasn't sure if he'd have been able to handle it. 

"Sam thinks it's better this way."

Suddenly a strange thought occurred to Stiles, "Embry, are you physically unable to disobey Sam." 

"Only when he uses his Alpha-voice. That's basically law." 

Stiles was shocked, this went beyond the Alpha compulsion Peter tried to use when he was a psycho-wolf. This was a whole new level, "So basically everyone has do whatever Sam wants."

Embry's eyes widened, "No it's not like that-

"How did Sam become Alpha?" Stiles interrupted.

"What do you mean? He was the first of us to shift, so we've all just followed his lead. I mean technically Jacob is the Alpha but he didn't want the position." 

Stiles was relieved- but only a little bit. He still didn't like the idea of someone forcing the wolves to do anything they didn't want to do.

"Jacob just decided he didn't want to be Alpha?" 

Embry nodded, "Ya, he didn't think he could handle everyone counting on him to make decisions."

Stiles gave an interested hmmph. That seems a like a much better way than passing the title on through death. "How has everything been now that the vampire are back?"

"We're dealing with it. Some days are worse than other. Most of the time we keep to ourselves and they do their thing." Embry just shrugged, "Unless Bella is involved that is."

"Bella Swan again? What has that girl gotten herself into?"

Embry rolled his eyes, "She seems to have this strange idea that we can all get along and be friends, which everyone knows will never happen but Jake and Eddie will do whatever it takes to make that girl happy."

"Jacob also mentioned some scorned ex-lover after her head?" Stiles raised an eyebrow at Embry. Trouble magnet was an understatement.

If Embry's frustrated groan was anything to go by, this wasn't a new thing. "That would be Victoria. Her mate James tried to kill Bella a few years back. Obviously Edward ripped his head off. Now she's back to try and settle the score."

"Oh wow." 

"She hasn't tried anything yet but she's been hanging around and making everyone nervous." Embry continued, "Especially since Alice can't see her." 

"And who is Alice again?"

"Alice Cullen, she's the vampire who can see the future." 

Stiles jaw dropped, "The vampires can see the future too?" 

Embry blinked, almost startled that Stiles didn't already know. "When they are changed some vampires get gifts or abilities. Most of the Cullen family has them. Alice can see the future, her mate Jasper can influence emotions, and Edward can read minds."

Stiles just gaped. Which godforsaken deity, god or goddess, creator of beings, or whoever makes the decisions up there; which idiot decided to give vampires superpowers! 

"Of course Alice can't see the pack for some reason and Edward can't read Bella's mind either." Embry shrugged, like it was better to just accept everything and go with it rather than ask any questions about why. 

Stiles gave a scornful laugh, "Edwardo just happens to be dating the only chick who's brain he can't read?"

"Tell me about it," Embry rolled his eyes, "So how long are you and your Dad planning on staying?" 

Stiles just shrugged,"Probably till new years or until this kid is found."

"You should come to the pack Christmas Party then!" Embry was grinning from ear to ear, "You still haven't met everyone yet and Emily would love to see you again."

"Ok, sure." Stiles knew a lost cause when he saw one, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to go. From the look on Embry's face it was like Christmas had just come early.

Later after Embry had left for his patrol, Stiles set an email to Deaton asking about blocking telepathic influences, particularly thoughts and emotions. The last thing Stiles wanted was anyone finding out about his pack because Edward couldn't keep his mouth shut. Of course, Deaton's reply managed to be both a lot of help and utterly useless at the same time. He talked about centering oneself and creating mental shields that would block out any kind of mental intrusion; that apparently took years to master and was way above Stiles current skill level. Luckily Dr. Deaton was able to suggest some simpler alternatives which caused Stiles briefly wondered if he knew more about Stiles current situation that he was letting on. For emotional manipulation he suggested centering oneself and simply categorizing which feelings where his own and which did not belong, with regular meditation this was supposed to become easier until Stiles would be able to recognize instantly when someone was trying to influence him. For a telepath who wasn't actively invading Stiles' mind and was instead just skimming surface thoughts Deaton suggested something like a feedback loop. It was just a loop of everyday regular thoughts that could be used to trick the telepath into believing he was reading Stiles' actual thoughts. 

When Nancy and his Dad returned home that night with the same grim expressions Stiles started cooking dinner, and didn't bother asking how the search for the boy was going. If there had been any form of progress they both wouldn't look so put out. Stiles knew the helplessness that Nancy and his Father were feeling right now, they were doing the best they could but without anything to go off of they were in the dark. That boy could be anywhere.

And telling the families that never got any easier either.

Strangely enough Stiles didn't see much of Embry over the week. Stiles told himself he didn't mind, and that Embry was probably busy patrolling or something. Instead Stiles practiced meditation and building his shields. He practiced some of the spells Deaton had taught him, as well as a few he found on his own; creating light, using the wind to turn pages of his book, and creating shapes out of mountain ash. That last one was more belief than magic but Stiles enjoyed the exercise anyway.

The rush of adrenaline Stiles felt whenever he used magic was still there so he had to be careful of unknowingly exhausting himself; but with each spell he cast his control got stronger, and casting became just a little bit easier. It wouldn't be long until he was strong enough to use his magic to actually help the pack next time they find themselves in danger. 

When the boredom finally became to much to bear, Stiles decided to do a little recon and find out more about the vampires. Basically, this consisted of bringing his Dad lunch at the station and asking Chief Swan about his daughter. 

Forks police station was even smaller than Beacon Hills', when Stiles walked in there was a total of four officers on duty, not including his father, and none of them seemed particularly busy. To his surprise no one even questioned him when Stiles walked straight towards Chief Swan's office.

Stiles knocked on the door and waited for Chief Swan's muffled reply before entering. Chief Swan was seated behind his desk and Stiles' father was peering over his shoulder, both of them completely engrossed in the map of Forks that had been hastily spread across the desk. 

"Hey Dad, I brought you lunch." Stiles grinned holding up the brown paper bag as a peace offering.

"Stiles?" His Dad's confusion at Stiles presence was quickly replaced with joy at the sight of the food. Stiles passed his father the bag and stole a few not so subtle glances at the maps. 

One of the maps was of the nearby woods with hastily drawn red circles around the areas the police had already searched. Most of the map was still blank. 

"Stiles, have you met Charlie Swan? He's Fork's Chief of Police." To anyone else his Dad's voice would have seemed friendly, but Stiles heard the sharp edge of suspicion. Completely justified suspicion. The last time Stiles got involved in one of his dad's cases, he fucking _died_. 

Luckily, the search wasn't what Stiles was interesting in this time, "It's nice to meet you Chief Swan." 

"Call me Charlie," Chief Swan grinned, "everyone else does."

Stiles nodded, "How's the search going?"

Charlie sighed, "We're doing the best we can. I just hope the poor boy has holed himself up somewhere and not lost in these darn woods." Because a finding runaway kid is better than finding a dead body, "You know I've got a daughter about your age," Charlie continued, "She's given me a scare or two over the years, but I can't even begin to imagine what these parents must be going through." 

Out of the corner of his eye Stiles saw his father nod, and the familiar feeling of guilt came rushing back. There too many times when it could have been his body dead in the woods. 

"Her name is Bella right?" Stiles asked faking ignorance.

"Ya, you know her?"

"No, but my friend Jacob Black has mentioned her once or twice." 

"Oh, Billy's boy." Charlie nodded, "Good kid."

"Ya, thanks to him I almost know the reservation better than Forks!" Stiles joked.

It was an obvious baiting, but Charlie feel for it all the same. "Now we can't have that! I'll see if Bella is free any time soon. She can give you the grand tour!"

"No, I wouldn't want to both her. I'm sure she has much better things to do on her winter break." Things like banging her vampire boyfriend.

"Son, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"It's ok Charlie, honestly." Charlie didn't look convinced, but he nodded his acceptance.

Stiles said his goodbyes to his father, who was looking very confused about what had just happened. Thankfully he knew better than to comment and Stiles slipped back out the door and went home.

-

The next day Embry showed up to drag Stiles out of the house. Stiles pretended it wasn't the most exciting thing to happen all week. 

"Stiles come on. You still haven't met the rest of the pack!"

"Fine, fine. Where are we going exactly?" 

"Port Angeles, for food and a movie. Sound good?" 

Stiles snorted, "Like anything involving food could ever be bad."

"A couple of my packmates are coming too," Embry glanced at him, " as long as that's OK with you."

Stiles shrugged, "The more the merrier. Anyone I know?"

"I think it's just Quil and Seth. They're really pumped for the new Spiderman movie." 

"No way, I've been dying to see that." Stiles had originally planned to go with Scott before he left, but things got a little busy while they were trying not to die.

"That's awesome!" 

Quil and Seth were buckled up in the backseat of Embry's truck leaving shotgun for Stiles. Seth was younger than Stiles expected, he couldn't have been older than 14 and he even still had that preteen awkwardness in the way he carried himself. Quil on the other hand looked exactly like his mother. They had the same impish grin and curly hair; only Quil was taller and a hell of a lot more muscular. 

"You must be those evil packmates I've heard about."

Both boys grinned at that, "Whatever Embry has told you, they're lies. All lies."

"Oh really?"


	5. Chapter 4; Part 2

The best way to describe Seth and Quil was simply as teenagers. They were loud and rambunctious; they joked around and threw popcorn at each other. The only time they actually stopped talking was when the movie started. It was surreal how normal Stiles felt. There was a feeling of discontinuity when he thought about his life back in Beacon Hills compared to Forks. It was like he was stepping out of a movie and back into reality. Only werewolves still existed which made everything a thousand times weirder.

In a way Stiles was a little bit jealous of Embry and his pack. Their biggest problems were Bella and her vampire boyfriend or Bella and her vampire stalker. He couldn't help but think that it paled in comparison to everything he had been through. He had been beaten down and nearly broken on more than one occasion. Stiles, Scott, Alison, Lydia even Derek and Isaac, all of them had been to hell and back. They knew how cruel the world could be and it had changed them. Stiles could never wish anything bad on Embry or his pack. He just- he just wished that his pack had never needed to go through all those tough times in the first place. The near death experiences made them stronger but it also made them distrustful and reclusive. None of them had the same spark in their eyes at Embry and his packmates had.

"Stiles, are you OK?" Stiles jumped at the sound of Embry's voice, "What's with the long face?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it." Stiles assured.

Embry was grinning but that didn't hide the concern in his eyes.

"So what did you think of it?" Seth asked with an arced eyebrow and a mouthful of popcorn.

"Dude, chew first then speak." Quil made a disgusted face.

Seth just rolled his eyes, "I liked sparky blue man."

"Me too, I felt kinda bad for him."

"The original Spiderman had a better Goblin."

Everyone but Embry nodded in agreement to that; Embry had pulled out his phone and was frowning, "Fuck. Guys, some vampire broke into Bella's house. Jacob says he doesn't recognize the scent."

"Oh shit."

"Is she ok?" Seth asked.

"Ya, but some of her stuff is missing." Embry replied without looking up from the phone.

"What would a vamp want with her stuff?" Quil asked confusedly.

Embry just shrugged and Stiles felt something bad settle in the pit of his stomach, "What was taken?"

"Some clothes and stuff. Why?"

"Her scent." Stiles voice wasn't more than a whisper, but the wolves had no trouble hearing him, "It was after her scent."

Embry gave a sharp inhale, finally looking up at Stiles with wide eyes. Seth and Quil exchanged equally distressed looks.

"But who?" Seth's voice was weak.

"None of the Cullens recognize the scent. Jake is going to try and track it." Quick as lightning Embry was back to typing away.

"Should we go back? If he doesn't find anything Sam will want to do a sweep of the whole forest." Quil asked. 

Seth groaned, "So much for being normal."

The rest of the boys just shrugged. Every single one of them had given up on being normal a long time ago.

The car ride back was stiff; it was silent other than the steady rumble of the radio and the occasional murmur of conversation. Seth developed a nervous twitch and seemed unable to sit still no matter what he tried. Quil stared out the window like the angsty teenager Stiles suspected he secretly was. Embry was focused on driving and then there was Stiles.

Stiles was an eerie sort of calm. He could feel the tension in his shoulders but his body was still other than a rhythmic tapping of his fingers. He didn't feel like talking at all which was a strange first for him. He wasn't even afraid; maybe that was because he had never met Bella or because he was accustomed to the life-threatening kind of terror that's common in his pack. Either way his thoughts were more focused on how he could use his magic to help. If the wolves scent tracking wouldn't work he could probably use a spell. Deaton was sure to have one of those - but how would he get Embry's pack to just accept whatever he says without coming clean.

There was a persistent nagging thought at the back of Stiles' mind. He could just not do anything. Bella has both the werewolves and the vampires looking out for her wellbeing; what difference would a amateur magician make? Why should he risk it?

There was a gray wolf Stiles didn't recognize waiting at the border into Quileute lands. Embry pulled the truck over to the side of the road and they all filed out.

"Leah, what's going on?" Seth asked. Leah didn't acknowledge Seth's question instead she just disappeared back into the forest, several long minutes later she reappeared in human form.

Leah was not what Stiles had been expecting. Physically she looked a lot like Seth with the same copper skin and nose but the way she carried herself and the firm set of her jaw reminded him of Derek. There was stiffness to her movements and a deeply set sadness that couldn't be hidden no matter how much she tried to hide it. She seemed guarded, the easy smiles and laughter that came so easily to the rest of the pack didn't come easily for her. Stiles wondered who had hurt her.

"Jake's had no luck with tracking the vamp. Sam wants us to do a full sweep of the territory."

Quil sighed, "Darn thing is probably long gone by now. Dunno what he expects us to find."

Leah didn't even blink, "Alpha's orders." Stiles frowned and and strangely enough that was what caused Leah to notice him, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the seasonal mascot and google-fu expert. The name's Stiles Stilinski in case you were wondering."

"You smell funny." It was a lot of practice and sheer dumb luck that Stiles heart rate didn't skyrocket. Instead he just raised an eyebrows and waited for her to elaborate, "It's like lighting and the woods, but you smell like other wolves too."

"Really? That's so cool!"

Leah scowled, "Anyway, we should go. Sam is waiting."

The boys nodded, they were all business now.

"Stiles would you take the truck back to the house for me?" Embry asked tossing him the keys.

"Ya...sure." Stiles fumbled the catch and ended up dropping the keys.

"Do you remember the way?"

"Uhhhh yes?"

Embry snorted, "Never mind then. Just take it back to your place then, someone will come by later to get it."

Stiles just nodded and gave a quick goodbye as the wolves jogged into the woods to shed their skins. The drive back home was lonely without Embry's familiar presence and the house was even emptier. To pass the time he emailed Deaton about tracking spells just in case and sent off a few texts to Scott. Stiles tried to practice some more of his spells but he couldn't get himself to focus; thoughts of the stray vampire kept clogging up his head. There was something about it that was bothering him. It knew who Bella was; but what use is her scent?

The best conclusion Stiles could come up with was that the scent was for someone else; which means even more questions and even less answers. That's not even touching on the fact that the vampire knew Bella but none of the Cullens recognized the scent. Stiles remembered when Jacob first mentioned Victoria; a vampire out for revenge would fit the bill.

Victoria is just one vampire. She would never be able to take on the entire coven to kill Bella and even if she managed to separate Bella the Cullens would hunt her down and destroy her. Let's assume she has friends then, other vampires that are mourning for what's-his-face and want payback. They wouldn't know who Bella was. They would need her scent.

That would explain the break-in but why not just kill her then? Why would an immortal with no regard for human life leave her alive?

For whatever reason they think Bella is valuable to them, too valuable to kill just yet. If what Stiles had heard about Victoria is true than there is no way she would ever let Bella live longer than necessary.

That's it. Victoria and henchmen aren't targeting Bella; they are targeting the Cullen coven and are going to use Bella to do it. The Cullens will do whatever it takes to defend that girl. She is their weakness.

Stiles took a deep breath, as eye opening as this was he still had no idea what they were planning or how to stop it.

Leah showed up outside Stiles window late that night. Some ungodly hour where everyone normal was already asleep and the not normal people like Stiles played on swivel chairs because sleep was boring.

The repetitive tapping of small rocks hitting his window alerted Stiles to her presence, "Hey, how did the search go?" He asked as he opened it.

Leah just shrugged, "Nothing, like expected."

"I'm guessing Sam's not too happy about that." Stiles mused not really paying attention. _Where on earth did he leave those stupid keys?_

"Sam could care less as long as they aren't on our territory. It's Jacob who's in a fuss." Leah scoffed.

Stiles laughed, "That girl is probably the most well protected person in this entire town. He shouldn't worry too much."

Leah rolled her eyes, "She's the delicate human."

Stiles couldn't help but think of the Argents. Delicate was not how he would ever describe them. For the most part Stiles admired them as long as they weren't trying to kill people he cared about - or beat him up. Chris and Alison were the most badass people he knew. They knew their weaknesses and used them to their advantages; they knew your weaknesses and used them to destroy you. Their code kept them strong and on track. There was nothing they couldn't handle.

"I don't think our definitions of human line up." Stiles leaned as much of his body as he could out the window and grinned like a maniac down at her. He wondered if she would catch him if he fell.

"I turn into a gigantic wolf when I get angry and your neighbors enjoy drinking your blood for supper. What chance do you think you have?"

"Leah, darling I hate to break it to you but you are not invincible." Stiles can understand why so many supernatural creatures make the mistake of underestimating humans but he couldn't help but feel it was the biggest mistake they could ever make.

Leah just scowled in response, "Where are the damn keys?"

"Oh, right here!" Stiles pulled them out of his pocket and tossed them down to her, "Enjoy the rest of your night Miss Clearwater."

Leah disappeared back into the woods without so much as a goodbye and Stiles grinned to himself, she reminded him so much of Derek. He almost wanted to introduce them so they could glare at people together.

To Stiles pleasant surprise Embry also showed up the next afternoon. He'd half expected him to be busy with the pack or the rest of his life.

Embry just shrugged when Stiles asked, "My patrol shift is later."

"Sooooo," Stiles grinned. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Yes. Embry did want to build a snowman.

Thanks to living in California and all Stiles wasn't used to this much snow. Together they rolled a cute little snow family with a cute little snow dog and everything. They had started on a little snow town but after a brief argument things went a little _Calvin and Hobbes_. Next thing they knew the snowmen had four arms, or 6 eyes, or 2 noses. Several had been knocked over and their severed heads lay crushed into the snow where they had landed.

Embry collapsed into the snowman graveyard laughing as he went; Stiles soon joined him. Embry was only dressed in a light coat and pants thanks to his wolfy superpowers and Stiles who was unprepared for the Washington winter was dressed similarly. Stiles toes where numb and his cheeks tingled. He'd lost feeling in his fingers ages ago but still couldn't bring himself to go back inside.

"Embry, I've been practicing magic."

Stiles isn't really sure what made him say it, up until the moment he opened his mouth Stiles never planned on saying anything. Now that is was out in the open though, it was like there was a weight off his chest. Stiles might not be comfortable sharing information about the pack back home but he could give Embry this piece of himself.

"What?" Embry sat up on his elbows and looked at Stiles in disbelief. 

"I did some research back home and found some books that worked." Stiles couldn't bring himself to look at Embry. He stared straight up at the sky and let his mouth spin whatever lies were needed. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" 

"I am telling you now, it's just I wanted to wait and prove to myself I could do it on my own." 

"I want you to be careful Stiles. This kinda stuff can be dangerous." Embry reached forward and grabbed hold of Stiles chin, "Look at me." 

Stiles did, and it was almost painful. Embry wasn't mad or angry or upset; he was looking at Stiles with big concerned eyes that made his heart seize up, "If you ever need help with anything I'm just a phone call away." 

"I do- I don't have your number." Stiles choked out.

Embry smiled one of his heartwarming grins and Stiles wondered what he ever did to deserve someone looking at him like that, "Let's fix that then." 

If Stiles had known getting Embry's number was that easy- No he probably still would have chickened out.

Later when they were curled up inside with mugs of hot chocolate Embry asked if he could see some magic. Stiles nodded and dragged him over to the kitchen sink. He turned on the tap and grabbed his pendant from under his shirt, "Watch this."

Stiles reached out and let the water run over his hand. Picturing what he wanted in his mind Stiles focused his spark. Slowly the water stopped flowing and instead it floated above his hand. With a sly grin at Embry he formed the water into the shape of a small wolf howling and froze it solid.

"Here." Stiles passed the ice statue to Embry, who was staring at him in shock. 

"Wow," Embry murmured. "That's amazing." 

Stiles smiled, trying to blink back the sudden fatigue that hit him. He still had a lot of practice to do.

"Oh, did I tell you Bella convinced her beau to let her visit the pack." Embry continued grinning, "Do you wanna meet the vampire princess?" 

Stiles laughed, "Of course I would." He'd heard enough stories about this little trouble maker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this chapter being so late I was busy with school and got a little bit distracted from my writing. Here's where the inspiration for the snowmen scene came from: http://i.imgur.com/rwV9KWz.gif


	6. Chapter 4; Part 3

The Den, otherwise known as Sam and Emily's house had basically become the hub for all things werewolf related. It was the perfect place for impromptu meetings and at meal times. From the way Embry had described it the house's primary function was a chill space. Some of them would be perched over the latest video game, Emily normally attracted a small following whenever she decided to cook and it was even a rare sight to see one or two of them studying. 

Today most of the pack was still out on a patrol so the house was pretty much empty. It was a strange contrast from the last time Stiles had been here. Emily had been absolutely delighted when Stiles walked in the door - complete with a bone crushing hug and quickly recruited him into the kitchen. Stiles didn't mind; it saved him from standing around awkwardly.

The packs youngest members were introduced as Brady Fuller and Colin Littlesea. Because neither of them were even in high school yet they had less patrols than everyone else. Currently they were both curled up on the couch playing the impossible game on their phones and oblivious to the rest of the world. 

"So Emily, how long have you and Sam been together?" Stiles asked, trying to make conversation.

Emily smiled, "Only about a year; if it had been anyone else I would be worried about rushing into everything but not with Sam."

"How are you so certain?" Love was a weird topic for Stiles to think about. For the longest time he thought he was in love with Lydia Martin but the love he could remember his parents having was not the kind of love he felt for Lydia. That was more of an admiration and devotion that bordered on obsessive. 

"The imprint of course!" 

"What's an imprint?"

Emily stopped what she was doing and looked at Stiles in confusion, "Has Embry not explained imprints to you?"

Stiles shrugged, "Guess not."

"They are kind of like soul-mates. It's kind of like gravity is pulling you together and once you are everything will be ok. It could be the last day on earth and I would be ok as long as Sam was there with me. Sam knew I was the one from the moment he looked at me, I didn't notice it at first but the imprint is there." Emily got this far off look in her eyes that could only mean she was thinking of her fiance.

"That's incredible." Stiles murmured, "And do all the wolves imprint?"

"No, the elders say it's a special thing. Sam thinks it's the wolves picking mates who will create stronger pups, but Billy - Jacob's Dad thinks it's someone who will make the wolf stronger." 

"What if the person the wolf picks doesn't like them? Or what if they are gay? What about Leah? Will she imprint the same way?" All of Stiles' questions tumbled from his mouth before he could stop them.

Emily just laughed at his enthusiasm, "I can't imagine why someone would turn down their imprint but I'd image they'd respect that decision no matter how hard it would be. As for Leah and being gay I have no idea." 

"Interesting." Derek had never mentioned anything about imprints or mates in general. Stiles resolved to ask him next time they spoke, "Is there anyone else who has imprinted?"

"Well, Quil imprint on my niece Claire and Jared on a girl from his school named Kim." 

"Wait your niece? How old is she?"

Emily shuffled around uncomfortably, "Imprinting happens regardless of age. It's not always sexual. Quil's bond with her is completely platonic, he's like the big brother she never had." 

"From your defensive tone I'm guessing _way_ to young for it to be socially acceptable."

Emily didn't even bother to reply.

"I'm sorry it's just that-

Just then the rest of the pack literally tumbled through the door. First came the boy Stiles remembered as Jared, who had Quil locked in a headlock. Next stumbled in Seth and Embry cheering them on. They were followed by Sam and a shifter Stiles didn't know yet and finally in came Jacob with a girl. 

The girl, who must be Bella, had long brown hair and Charlie's crooked nose. There was a shyness to her demeanor. She carried herself like she didn't want to be noticed and Stiles got the impression that he would never have noticed in the hallways at school. Stiles wondered how she managed to attract so much trouble anyways. In a weird sort of way she reminded him of Erica before the bite.

When no one seemed surprised by his presence Stiles had a sudden thought. The pack could probably share scents and faces through there telepathic connection, so they probably already knew a whole lot about him than he knew about them. Stiles wondered how much control Embry had over what he shared and if the rest of the pack already knew about him practicing magic. 

Sam made a beeline right for Emily and wrapped her up into his arms. 

"Hey, how's it going?" Embry drifted over to stand beside Stiles. Jared and Quil had taken to wrestling on the floor.

"Good, how was the patrol?" Stiles watched them with mild interest.

Embry shrugged, "Same old stuff." 

Stiles nodded over towards where Brady and Colin were still curled up on the couch, "I didn't realize how young some of you were." 

"It's cause there are so many vamps around. More vamps, more wolves." 

Stiles knows firsthand how badly that could have gone. Scott was bitten freshman year and didn't have a pack for support; it was sheer luck that he wasn't discovered. Derek at least was born a werewolf so it was second nature to him. But for Scott and Brady and the rest of them werewolfism should not be combined with puberty. It's a recipe for disaster.

Bella still hadn't looked up from her conversation with Jacob. Stiles nodded towards her, "Any new developments?" 

Embry shook his head, "No but the Cullens are working on it." 

Stiles nodded again, "Guess I better go introduce myself then." 

Stiles moved over towards Jacob and Bella then waited for them to notice him, "Hey, you must be Bella. I'm Stiles our Dads work together." 

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Bella smile was friendly but she made no effort to continue the conversation. 

Stiles panicked for something to say, "It's always nice to have more humans around." 

The look Bella gave him in return had Stiles hanging his head and slinking back to Embry in embarrassment.

Embry grinned at him, "Smooottthh."

"Oh, shut up." Stiles groaned. 

"Have you met everyone yet?" Embry asked, changing the subject.

"Umm pretty much." Stiles glanced around the room until his eyes settled on the one wolf who he hadn't been introduced to, "Except for him." 

"Oh, ya that's Paul. He's got a bit of a temper but don't let that get to you." Embry informed him.

Just then Emily declared the food was ready and the pack descended on it like an actual pack of ravenous wolves. Stiles and Bella both drifted to the back of the line not wanting to come between the wolves and their food. 

"So how did you find out about...all this?" Bella asked.

Stiles shrugged, "I am friends with Embry and things around here don't make much sense. I managed to catch them out in the woods one night and put all the pieces together. How about you?" 

"My boyfriend is a vampire." Bella replied. 

Stiles laughed, "Say no more. Everything makes sense now." 

Bella grinned back at him. 

"So what makes a girl date one of the undead anyway?" 

"He's thoughtful and kind. He's not like everyone else." 

Stiles had to resist the urge to scoff. _So the dude is interesting, that's probably cause he's not human anymore,_ "How do you deal with the whole 'wanting to kill you' thing?"

Bella shook your head, "I know Edward would never hurt me."

"Well his whole family are vampires, what about them? It must be difficult." 

Bella flinched and Stiles knew he had crossed some sort of boundary, "The food smells delicious. Emily is an amazing cook."

"Ya, she is pretty great."

Stiles grabbed food to hide the awkwardness and took shelter over by Embry. Embry, along with the rest of the pack, had loaded up his plate with a little bit of everything Emily had cooked and was now proceeding to stuff his face as quickly as possible.

"Goddamn those werewolf appetites." Stiles laughed. 

Embry grins back but doesn't stop eating and Stiles slid into the seat beside him.

Just then Bella got a phone call and slipped outside to answer it.

At first Stiles didn't think anything of it when Jacob started glaring at the door instead of eating, but it spread through the pack until he and Emily were the only ones left eating. Sharing a look of confusion with Emily, Stiles glanced around at everyone. They were all tense, and with a few exceptions, the whole pack was looking at Sam. 

"What's going on?" Stiles voice echoed through the house. 

Embry looked over at him, his eyes were wide. He was scared. _Oh hell no._

Paul leaped from his seat and towards the front door, " **That bitch!** "

Before Stiles really understood what was going on, Embry and Jacob had both tackled Paul to the ground. The familiar snapping and grinding of bones filled the air. Stiles felt bile rise in the back of his throat; it wasn't stopping. They were breaking every single bone in their bodies. Stiles has seen Scott shift a thousand times before but never has it been like this.

"Take it outside!" Emily commanded and much to Stiles surprise the wolves actually listened.

Paul was already so far gone into wolf form he couldnt' speak in sentences anymore.Instead he growled at Jacob and Embry as they split apart. He glared maliciously at Jacob before storming out of the house. 

Jacob himself wasn't much better, his body was vibrating with tension and his clenches hands were the telltale sign of just how close he was to shifting. He followed Paul at a much more human like pace. 

Embry for the most part seemed calm. He glanced back at Stiles and gave him a weak smile before leaving. Only after he left did Stiles realize what was different about him; when he smiled he had a wolf's eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" Emily asked angrily. Sam ignored her and instead went outside after his pack-mates. 

"There is an army of angry vampires coming to kill our darling Bella!" Leah chirped sarcastically. 

Stiles jaw dropped. _Was she being serious?_

Everyone began pushing their ways outside. The nice family meal was over.

There was no sign of Jacob, Paul or even Sam. Just Embry who was staring intently at the forest and Bella who was standing on the porch, still clutching her phone in her hand and looking like she was about to go into shock. 

Stiles touched Bella lightly on the arm, "Hey are you ok?" 

Bella nodded, "Ya, I'm fine."

She was definitely not fine but Stiles nodded anyway. Bella was looking paler than earlier and there was a faint tremble in her hands. Stiles recognized the early signs of a panic attack from his childhood. 

"Deep breaths, OK?" Stiles reassured, "We'll figure something out and everything will be ok." 

"Why would she do this? Edward only killed James to protect me." Bella murmured to herself; not even acknowledging Stiles presence anymore.

Stiles looked at her sadly but didn't bother replying. She would need some time to fully comprehend what this meant for herself and for everyone else. 

Embry finally looked away from the forest and without hesitation Stiles walked over and wrapped him up into a big hug. Embry buried his head in Stiles shoulder, hiding away in the familar scent. 

"What's going to happen now?" Stiles asked when they finally broke apart.

"I don't know." Embry replied. 

Stiles nodded, "Let me know if there is anything I can do to help OK?"

Embry started to say something but Stiles cut him off before he could start, "And don't think that just cause I'm human that I'm any weaker than you are. I can help so don't you dare try to cut me out 'for my own safety' or any bullshit like that." 

Embry snorted, "I wouldn't even dream of it."

"Eh, I'm down for fighting off armies of vampires all week long." Stiles grinned back. Beacon Hills goes through a lot of weird shit but they've never had to deal with a vampires or an army of anything. Why had he ever thought that Forks had it easy. _At least it won't be boring_.


	7. Chapter 4; Part 4

No one had the authority to make decisions for the pack without Sam so until he got back with Jacob and Paul there were a lot of conflicting opinions and tension was running high. Stiles amused himself by googling different ways to kill vampires.

"How about staking? Does that work?" Stiles asked, not even bothering to look up from his phone.

"No, they're like solid rock." Jared snorted from the other side of the porch.

 _What about magic stakes then?_ He'd have to look into that. "So the only options are ripping them to shreds and burning them?"

"Preferably both." Quil added with a laugh. 

"No garlic? Nothing? That's so inconvenient." Stiles pouted.

Embry grinned and shook his head, "Sorry to disappoint." 

"I'll have to make due with fire." Stiles gave Embry a pointed look, "I can work with that." 

Embry just nodded. 

Stiles was still unsure if Embry had told the pack about his magic. Normally he would have assumed so with the whole 'sharing thoughts' thing but none of the other wolves have mentioned it or given him a second glance. Then again, other than a strange look from Emily no one has commented on him helping either; but that could also be contributed to them overhearing Stiles comment to Embry. Basically Stiles is confused and playing it safe.

"Just how flammable are they?" 

Jared looked at him like he'd grown a second head. 

"Ok shutting up now." Stiles sheepishly went back to his googling.

The first thing Stiles needs to focus on is his defensive magic. He's got a feeling he's going to need a bit more than a mountain ash circle. If any vamp gets a hold of him, he will literally be dead meat. Plus it's pretty hard to help if he's dead. For the offensive part creating fire with magic couldn't be much harder than ice or light. The hard part would be sustaining it or making it grow. With any luck the vampires would light up like candles and Stiles can show off the true badass he is. Realistically that will never happen and Stiles needs to step up his game if he wants to get off the bench - and be able to survive the field.

Stiles mind was running through different scenarios and plans when Bella finally spoke up from her spot on the porch, "Maybe....maybe I should go home." Her voice wavered as she spoke. 

"I can take you home. I'm headed in that direction anyway." Stiles suggested. 

It would be easier for the pack to talk about things without them here anyways. This is a pack decision and they'd only be in the way. Stiles wouldn't blame them if they decided not to get involved at all. An army of vampires after one girl, who is honestly not involved in their pack at all. It would be completely reasonable to let the vampires that got her into this mess protect her. 

Bella nodded and followed him obediently to his jeep. 

The drive was stilted and awkward. Stiles would try and make small talk and Bella would give him half-assed replies. He tried to ask about Edward but even that only got him generic replies. They'd met at school and shared biology class together, he likes music and her. 

"Wait so how did you figure out about all the vampire stuff?" Stiles asked. He'd known right from the beginning with Scott but this vampire had years of practice with hiding. 

"He made me guess." Bella shrugged.

"And your first guess was vampire?"

"I knew he wasn't human." Bella rationalized, "He saved me from a car crash, left a dent in the door and ran away before anyone else saw him. Humans can't do that." 

Stiles couldn't help but grin at her. He kind of admired her for figuring it out; anyone else would have thought it was impossible and wouldn't have faith in what they saw. Not this girl though, she had good intuition and went with it no matter how batshit crazy it sounded.

Bella eyes him curiously, "How did you handle it when you found out? You don't even live in Forks or on the reserve, it was probably a bit of a shock to find out all their legends were true."

Stiles laughed, "Not as much as you would think." 

Thankfully Bella didn't ask him to elaborate. 

After Stiles dropped Bella off at her house he continued driving until he was outside Forks. As far as Stiles knew, there hadn't been any progress with the missing kid and his Dad would probably be working late yet again. As more time passed there was left hope of finding the kid alive- and of finding him at all. The stress it was causing was beginning to show, there was a new tension weighing on the sheriff's shoulders and Stiles thought he even saw a few more gray hairs joining the party. 

Stiles just needed to be alone for a while. He needed to practice his magic without fear of the wolf pack or anyone else looking over his shoulder. Leaving Forks meant he was outside of the packs territory and from what he heard the Cullens don't like to eat where they sleep so he was completely under the supernatural radar tonight.

Soon enough the small town disappeared behind the thick forest. Once Stiles decided he was far enough away from civilization he pulled the jeep over to the side of the road, got out and started walking. His skin itched with the anticipation of using magic again. The pendant burned as it bounced across his chest. He didn't walk to far away from the jeep as he didn't want to risk getting lost.

There was no clearing or open field, just lots and lots of trees. Stiles picked one at random and plopped himself down beside it. Leaning against the trunk he focused on meditating. With all of his practice it was getting easier and easier for Stiles to focus and center himself. The hard part was emptying his head of his many important thoughts. 

Instead he thought about his pack back home. 

Scott's pack was already decently sized but he still had a lot to learn about being an alpha. Scott was one of the kindest people Stiles knew, if someone needed help Scott wouldn't hesitate to help; but now helping the wrong people could put the pack at risk, and the safety of the pack always came first. Stiles wondered if Scott would be able to make the hard decisions. Could he kill someone if it meant keeping everyone else safe? Scott's kindness would be his greatest asset and his greatest weakness as an alpha. 

Derek had been an alpha too for a short amount time and not a very good one at that. He had the opposite problem of Scott. Derek never trusted anyone. Erica, Boyd and Isaac had all thrived under his leadership, but they never understood the importance of pack. Derek had taught them how to be werewolves but he couldn't teach them about trusting their alpha or trusting each other because as much as Derek cared for them he couldn't trust them either. Derek was still mourning for Erica and Boyd; it had taken Stiles a long time to notice but it was there. Hiding in plain sight with his reluctance to get close to Isaac again and the way he secretly kept tabs on all their families. To Derek, pack meant family and nothing could ever replace the pack that Kate destroyed. 

It's arguable that out of all of them Allison has been through the most. From the discovery that werewolves exist and her family hunts them, to falling in love with a werewolf, to the death of her aunt and mother, to being corrupted by her psycho grandfather, to being stalked by Matt, to dying to save her father, Allison has managed to keep her head held high and never let anything phase her no matter how fucked up it is. 

Lydia, oh the goddess that she is. Stiles knows how much she hates how her reputation at school has fallen but he can't help but be glad she finally stopped hiding who she is. She's been mauled by Peter and abandoned by Jackson. For a while she thought she was absolutely crazy, and even now that she knows she's a Banshee no one really knows what that means or how to help. It's not a good thing when the only other Banshee they know of lives in an asylum. Lydia might be surrounded by the supernatural but she's still alone.

Isaac was making the transition from Derek's pack to Scott's rather smoothly. It was like having an acquaintance who takes all the same courses but never ends up in the same class. All the barriers stopping Isaac from being friends the pack have suddenly been torn away and he's discovering just how much he has in common with everyone. For the first time in his life he has real friends and people he can rely on.

The Alpha twins were the packs unexpected additions. Everyone had spent so long fighting against them and considering them the enemy that it was hard to trust them now. Aiden and Ethan had spend so long with no one to trust but each other that it's hard for them to be able to trust the pack too. Unlike Isaac who is merging into the pack through the power of friendship they've decided unquestionable loyalty was the way to go. Unfortunately the problem they face is the sort of thing that could only be fixed with time. 

Stiles took a deep breath and started with the emotions exercise. He sorted through all his feelings, both the explainable ones and the strange unexplainable ones. As he had yet to actually meet any vampires it was safe to assume that all his feelings were his own. When he was satisfied he moved on to practicing the loop of thoughts. It was harder than it seemed because the moment he is not allowed to think about something it is all Stiles seems to think about. At this point, the vampires would know all his deepest, darkest secrets within minutes of meeting him.

Stiles magic wasn't like the stereotypical spells and curses; he didn't have a wand or a broomstick just his own willpower, the focus object and a little spark to make the magic happen. 

Gathering up some leaves, grass and twigs that had been laying around him Stiles decided to wait until he could make Embry help him practice his defensive spells. They'd be easier to test with an opponent- plus he really wanted to try and make fire. He gathered the supplies up into a makeshift fire pit and focused. 

He focused on the atoms heating up and moving faster and faster until smoke started to rise and the twigs burst into flames. He focused on the raw energy he funneled into making it burn. He focused on simply imagining the fire start and still nothing happened. Stiles took a frustrated breath and tried to relax. His magic was still twitching at his fingertips and not going anywhere. He gripped the pendant around his next and tried to see the magic flowing through it. 

Still nothing.

After what seemed like a lifetime Stiles took a break and rubbed his handed together to fight off the chill. Even bundled up as he was the cold had still begun to seep into his bones without him noticing. He tried to switch back to the light trick he first succeeded with. He closed his eyes and pictured what he wanted. 

There was the telltale tingle in his fingers and a rush of relief at the itch finally being scratched. 

Stiles opened his eyes to see the glowing pendant once again. This time instead of letting it fade away, he focused on keeping it steady and bright. Constant even as his mind began to drift.

Even if he couldn't train with the protection spells this was still important too, those spells needed to be strong and reliable. He'd need to be able to keep a shield up and still be able to fire off offensive spells too. If his shield dropped every time he wanted to use another spell he would be incredibly vulnerable. 

Suddenly his phone rang. The light blinked out as his concentration shattered. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey Stiles," Embry disjointed echoed through the speakers, "Sam's decided we are going to fight the vampire army."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you ever find any mistakes or have any thoughts on improving my writing please let me know. I'm always trying to improve my work.


	8. Chapter 4; Part 5

"That's nice," Stiles nearly slapped himself at his own stupidity. Did he really just say that?

"Really Stiles? That's all you've got to say." Embry laughed.

"Hold on. I'm just figuring out where to start." Stiles replied trying to play it off. He took a deep breath and then continued in a more serious tone, "Why fight though? Is this really worth your lives?" 

"Ya I think it is." Embry's voice left no room for uncertainties, "From what we know, Victoria, the mate of a vampire Edward killed about a year ago or so has raised an army of newborn vampires to kill Bella and as many of the Cullens as possible. If the Cullens lose then the next place they will turn to is Forks and La Push. We cannot let that happen so our best bet on stopping them is to help the Cullens kill them all."

"Do you know how many vamps you are up against?"

"No, not yet. We're going to have a meeting with the Cullens tomorrow night to strategize. Hopefully Alice will know." 

"Can I come? I meant it when I said I wanted to help." 

"Of course, your magic might come in handy." Stiles felt an undeniable fondness in his chest that Embry didn't even try to keep him away from this mess, "I'll swing by your place around 6ish. We are meeting at the border of our lands in the middle of the woods; you'll need help not getting lost."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then." 

"See ya," The phone clicked as it disconnected leaving Stiles alone in the silence once again. Stiles stood up, stretched and headed out of the woods.

The sun was just beginning to set when Stiles made it back home. He quickly made dinner for himself and placed the extras in the fridge for his Dad and Nancy when they got home. Then he sent some more emails to Deaton about how to strengthen his magic and sent Scott an update as well. Stiles fully embraced sleep as the exhaustion from today's events set in. 

The next morning Stiles found himself at a loss of what to do. He had absolutely no other plans until the meeting and for the first time he realizes he doesn't really have any friends who aren't werewolves. Which is just a little bit concerning but Stiles decides to save that challenge for another day and instead practiced his magic again. 

Stiles was torn between being fully prepared for meeting the Cullens and practicing so much that he accidentally exhausted himself. His shields were still too weak for his liking but he'd have an advantage with them not expecting the deception. His only hope was that they wouldn't notice anything was off about his thoughts. 

Still this wasn't a normal situation where he could just think about the weather or make-up some imaginary friend drama to focus on. He would have to think about werewolves and the upcoming war but not about his own pack. Stiles brainstormed believable lies in case he slipped up; Lydia wanting to become a professional make-up artist and practicing on everyone, Stiles has an obsessions with fantasy creatures and an over active imagination, Stiles is a writer and it's a plot for a novel, or even a slight combination of all three? 

Stiles tried to make himself stop worrying about it. Edward had probably heard lots of people's secrets; hopefully he wouldn't mind keeping this one. It would all depend on how normal he could act and the more Stiles worked himself up about it the less normal he could act. He practiced the thought loop until his mind went numb. It was almost like he was watching the loop on TV; it was his own thoughts but they were mixed with a touch of his spark until it gave them an edited quality that was almost unreal.

When Embry finally showed up on his doorstep Stiles had worked himself through so many emotions that the only thing left was a general _Fuck it. Whatever happens, happens_ attitude.

If Embry noticed something was off he didn't comment; he just smiled and asked if Stiles was ready to go. 

The trek to the meeting spot nearly killed Stiles because everyone else was a goddamned _werewolf_ or a _vampire_ and that meant travelling far enough into the woods that no one would ever stumble upon them. There was Stiles puffing and sweating throughout the entire hike and stupid Embry didn't even break a sweat. At that moment Stiles hated him and all his wolfdom.

"We are here." Embry spoke the magic words and Stiles collapsed into a heap on the ground.

"Finally!" Stiles exclaimed. 

"Having a little trouble there Stiles?" Jacob laughed. Stiles muttered inappropriate things under his breath and Jacob laughed even harder. 

Judging from there impressive state of undress Stiles assumed the rest of the pack had run here. A quick glance around the clearing had a distinct lack of vampires though.

"Where are the Cullens?" Stiles asked. 

"They are on their way," Seth confirmed, "I can hear them." 

"Alright, everyone shift. I don't want them getting any advantages over us." Sam's order was met with no complaints.

Much to Stiles shock most of the wolves just stripped down and shifted right there; though he did notice Leah slip off into the trees and strangely enough Embry too. Less than a minute later pale blurs came whizzing out of the trees faster than Stiles could blink. If he didn't know any better Stiles would have assumed they teleported. 

The Cullens were all beautiful just like the stories said; they had his cut from stone appearance that was undeniably unhuman. They seemed absolutely flawless. As Bella climbed down from a guys back - Edward probably - she looked so insignificant in comparison. That was what threw Stiles the most because logically he knew Bella was pretty but the Cullens just outshone everything around them. It was difficult to focus on anything that wasn't them. 

"Who is this?" The honeyed voice made Stiles insides melt. 

"This is Stiles. He's with them." It was Edward's voice that jerked Stiles back to reality. Stiles was shocked for a moment as he realized that since the pack can't speak in wolf form Edward was going to be the translator of their thoughts. 

"Hello Stiles I am Carlisle and this is my family." _The doctor._ Carlisle was tall and blonde but Stiles figured he looked rather young for his alias as a father. 

It was easy to tell by looking at them that they weren't actually related but thanks to the rumors around town they were all adopted anyway. The only feature the Cullens had in common was the same unnerving gold eyes. 

"As for the rest you, thank you for coming." Carlisle continued addressing the rest of the pack. He motioned to another stiff blonde vampire beside him. "Jasper has experience with newborns and can teach us how to defeat them."

Jasper was the one who could influence emotions Stiles remembered. 

"They are asking how different newborns are from us." Edward spoke softly as he watched the wolves.

"They are a great deal stronger than us." Carlisle explained, "That's because they still have their own human blood in their system. Our kind is never more physically powerful than the first few months of this life." Carlisle turned away, nodding at Jasper.

"He's right." Jasper started, "That's why they are created. A newborn army doesn't need thousands of people like a human one."

"The two most important things to remember are," Jasper spoke with confidence. He seemed completely at ease instructing everyone, "First, never let them get their arms around you; they will crush you instantly. Second, never go for the obvious kill; they will be expecting that and you will lose." 

Jasper paused and Stiles nearly laughed when he realized it was just for dramatic effect.

"Emmett, would you do the honors?" Jasper slid into a fighting stance and motioned for Emmett to attack him.

Emmett grinned, "I won't take it easy on you." 

When Emmett rushed at Jasper they dissolved into a blur of motion. Stiles tried his best to keep up but all he could see where glimpses of clothing. Both vampires seemed to merge together. Instead Stiles focused on his hearing; he could hear the blows that landed, the grunts of pain and crashes as one of them fell back. As well as the ones the ones that didn't; the echoing thud like rocks slamming together as bodies crashed together. He could hear the fury of the leaves beneath their feet and the slam as Emmett crashed down onto his back for the final time.

Jasper smiled faintly, looking like he hadn't even broken a sweat. _Which he hadn't._ "Now we are going to start with one on one but we will probably be greatly outnumbered when the battle comes so it will be good to practice two against one as well; but let's see where are today and go from there." 

The wolves approached the Cullens hesitantly but sure enough they all split off into pairs with the minimal amount of growling. Because there were more wolves than vampires three of the wolves hung back to observe. Judging from their sizes Stiles assumed that it was the younger half of the pack Seth, Collin and Brady. Stiles still didn't know the pack well enough to be able to tell who was who; but he could guess at which one was Leah by her smaller stature and leaner frame compared to the rest of them, as well as Embry because it's hard to forget the wolf that he ran for his life from and Jacob from their night time excursion. 

Stiles watched as Embry paired off against the female vampire with long blonde hair. There was a certain viciousness in her eyes that kind of reminded him of Erica; the _sexy-and-I-know-it_ aura. It made Stiles think about the life Erica could have had. Watching this vampire who had everything she should have gotten, a slightly different version, but the important parts were still there; a life without her epilepsy, a life with Boyd, a family who could support and protect her in a way.

A cold wet nose pressed up against Stiles shoulder, he looked over to see a sandy colored wolf sniffing at him concernedly.

"Seth?" Stiles guessed.

The wolf nodded and rubbed up against Stiles. 

"Are you trying to give me a hug?" Stiles asked incredulously. 

Seth sat down beside him and gave a wolfish nod. 

Stiles laughed as he clued into the emotions Seth was probably smelling on him, "I'm not sad, buddy I promise. Just thinking about someone I used to know." 

Slowly Brady and Collin drifted over and Stiles was enveloped in a warm wolfy pile of goodness. Eventually he even caught Bella's eye on the rare moment she looked away from Edward and motioned for her join them. She did, though a little reluctantly. Her eyes were practically glued to where Edward was facing off against Jacob. 

"How are you doing?" Stiles asked when she finally sat down beside him. 

"I'm ok."

"Have you heard anything else?" Stiles prompted.

"No but Alice is looking." 

"Which one is Alice again?" 

"Over there with the pixie cut."

Stiles nodded, "So we have Edward, Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett and Alice. Who are the other two then?" 

Bella nodded towards the vampire-Erica, "That's Rosalie and over there," Then she pointed out a small woman with caramel colored hair facing off against another wolf, "That's Esme. She's Carlisle's wife." 

"Ok thanks."

Bella just nodded and continued to watch the fighting.

"Are there any ideas on how many newborns there are?" Stiles tried again.

"No the numbers keep changing. Jasper says that's common with newborn armies, they have a lot of inner fighting." 

"What about when they are going to show up?" 

"Alice is working on it." There was a slight edge to Bella's voice. If it hadn't been the only change in her responses Stiles doubted he would have noticed. 

Stiles let the conversation end and silently hoped that the battle would come before he returned to Beacon Hills. He doubted he could handle getting an email with the list of deceased. Especially if Embry's name was on that list.


	9. Chapter 4; Part 6

Stiles watched Embry lunge forward and snap at Rosalie. She sidestepped to avoid him and hissed back. Slowly they circled each other, waiting for someone to make the first move. 

Embry lunged again, this time going low and aiming to take out her legs. Rosalie blurred as she evaded the attack; one minute she was almost in his jaws the next she was flipping over his head. Embry twisted around and tried to grab her but his jaws closed on empty air. Rosalie landed cleanly just out of reach and they were back to the original stalemate.

This time it was Rosalie who moved next. She tried to come at Embry from an angle so she could wrap her arms around him. Embry dropped his belly to the ground and they collided with a massive smash that had Stiles cringing in his seat. Rosalie hadn't managed to full catch Embry but she did manage to barrel roll him over and now they were a vicious ball of snapping, clawing and hissing as they tumbled around on the ground. Rosalie was faster and had a lot of hidden strength in her tiny frame but Embry had sheer size and sharp teeth. 

"Hey you two," In the blink of an eye Jasper moved to stand over the growly werewolf and vampire. Without hesitation or any glimmer of fear he reached down, grabbed Rosalie and yanked her off of Embry, "You could at least try to not actually hurt each other."

Rosalie glowered, "Come on, they'll heal." 

"No Rose." Jasper rolled his eyes.

Embry and Rosalie faced off again. 

"Jake! Stop!" Bella's scream stopped everyone in their tracks.

The massive brown wolf that was Jacob had knocked Edward onto his back and was standing menacingly over him with his teeth bared. He looked ready to tear Edward's throat out at the slightest agitation. Edward on the other hand, wasn't fighting back. He was just lying there and speaking softly. 

For a tense moment no one moved. Then Bella was launching herself across the clearing and at Jacob. It was a poor version of Rosalie's tackle; Jacob didn't budge at all. She clung to his fur like her life depended on it but Jacob's attention was entirely on Edward. _It was one hell of a staring contest._

Finally Jacob gave one final snarl and with a shake of his head he bounded off into the woods. Bella collapsed into a worried mess beside Edward, her frantic hands checking for non-existent injuries. Edward just wrapped his arms around her and murmured more reassurances. 

"Same time tomorrow everyone." Jasper declared. 

When the black wolf nodded his acceptance before anyone else moved it became obvious which one was Sam's wolf form. Stiles quickly did a mental tally; 7 down and 3 more to go. 

Instantly Embry and another brown wolf shot off into the woods after Jacob. The rest of the pack started to disperse as well but at a much more reasonable pace. 

For a minute Stiles floundered on what to do. Without Embry he knew he had no hope of making it back through the woods without getting lost. 

Then Seth leaned against his leg again. Stiles looked down at the wolf, "Will you help me get home to Grandma's?" 

Seth's only reply was a wolfy grin. 

"You're the best Big Bad Wolf ever."

"Stiles." Carlisle's voice made Stiles stiffen- and not entirely out of fear.

"Hello," Stiles replied, resisting the urge to fidget under Carlisle's gaze.

"I don't know how you got mixed up in all this supernatural stuff but I hope you are aware of the risk you are taking," Carlisle paused, "And the consequences it might have."

Stiles blinked, whatever he had been expecting a warning from a vampire wasn't it. "Trust me, sir. I know the consequences." 

Carlisle nodded and left it at that.

“Alright Seth lets go.” Stiles murmured slowly. 

Seth happily lead the way through the woods and Stiles tried his best to keep up with the over excited puppy. Seth would bound up head into the woods and then dart back with his tail wagging as soon as he lost sight on Stiles. Stiles worked hard not to outright laugh at Seth’s adorableness. 

Without the anticipation of meeting the vampires the walk back seemed to go a lot faster and before Stiles knew it he was emerging out of the woods. 

“Uhhhh Seth….This isn’t my house.” Stiles said gazing up at the familiar shape of the Pack’s house.

Seth just shrugged and disappeared inside. 

Stiles resigned himself to rolling his eyes and followed.

Inside most of the pack was already back. The only noticeable absences were Jacob, Embry, Quil and Sam; everyone else was just milling about and discussing today’s training. 

“We are going to rip the vamps to shreds!” Collin enthused. 

Stiles couldn’t help but be struck again by just how young the wolves really were. When they were shifted they might be big killing machines, just they were still just kids, and some of them wouldn’t even have gone through puberty yet if it wasn’t for their furry problems. 

Stiles mussed about what else he could do to help and then nearly jumped out of his seat as the realization set in. He had just successfully managed his first attempt at the thought loop- and in the presence of Edward no doubt! As he tried to remember everything he was thinking about Stiles came to the conclusion, that for him, the thought loop acted more like a filter than a loop. It simply filtered out any dangerous thoughts, like when a radio signal goes fuzzy right in the middle of a song and suddenly it’s the station on the next channel over that’s playing. Stiles had no problem thinking about Erica and everything she deserved but at the time the connection between Rosalie’s vampirism and Erica’s werewolfism had been the farthest thing from his mind at the time. It was so strange for him to think back on it and not be able to make the biggest connection between them that the only explanation for it was magic. 

Stiles grinned to himself. This was progress; he was one step closer to helping the pack fight off the evil vampire army. 

Slowly Stiles drifted over to stand with Leah in one of the back corners. 

“Hey.” 

Leah nodded a greeting.

“How are you doing?” Stiles asked.

“As well as expected.” 

“How do you feel about this?” He tried again.

“Gonna kill some vamps, it's what we were made to do.” She shrugged.

Stiles did a doubt take but before he could ask her what she meant, Leah abruptly walked away.

A few minutes later Jacob, Quil, Embry and Sam all showed up. Jacob made a beeline for the bedrooms in the back. He still looked slightly murderous but it seemed to have it under control. Quil and Embry exchanged looks but this time didn't follow. 

"Hey I thought you were going to go home after training." Embry smiled when he saw Stiles.

"I was but Seth disagreed." Stiles shrugged, "How's Jacob doing?"

"He's struggling. Bella being with that vamp really bothers him." 

"Bella has to make her own decisions as stupid as they might be." Stiles replied, the freedom to choose was important because without bad decisions no one would ever learn. 

"He just doesn't understand what she's sees in him that makes putting her life at risk worth it." Embry tried to explain. 

"I don't think she sees him as Edward the dangerous vampire. She is seeing Edward as her doting boyfriend who coincidentally happens to be a vampire." Stiles remembered Bella's absolute certainty that Edward would never hurt her. Danger was the farthest thing from her mind when it comes to her relationship. 

"She is going to get herself killed. They are vampires, bloodsucking leeches who would enjoy eating her for breakfast." Embry spat.

"It's the same reason I don't mind hanging out with werewolves. I trust them." Stiles replied calmly.

Embry floundered, "No....That's different. We would never-

"But you are still dangerous supernatural creatures, sometimes things happen by accident, sometimes it's no one's fault but that doesn't change the fact any of you could quite easily kill me." 

Embry's eyes were wide and slightly wounded. Stiles could tell he was looking for the right words to prove him wrong, to make him take back everything he just said, and let him know he would always be safe among the pack. But Stiles knew those words didn't exist.

Stiles sighed, "I'm going to take a walk." 

Embry didn't say anything but he didn't try to stop Stiles from leaving either.

When Stiles stepped outside he came upon Leah and Seth arguing in hushed voices. They were so absorbed in each other that they didn't even look up. 

"Seth you know this is crazy." Leah was saying.

"This is the best option."

"Teaming up with the bloodsuckers? That's never a good option." 

"The Cullens are trying to protect everyone just like we are." Seth justified.

"The Cullens are just trying to save their asses from the mistake they made." Leah growled. "We should just make them all leave- including the lapdog of theirs. That Victoria chick would take her army and follow them." 

"But what about the treaty?"

"Fuck the treaty." 

"But what if they don't all follow? We aren't strong enough to protect the reserve and Forks."

"We would still do better than fighting in a fucking war." Leah hissed.

Seth's demeanor suddenly changed, he squared his shoulders and set his jaw. When he spoke it left no room for argument, "Sam has already decided. We are going to fight against the vampire army and there isn't anything you can do to stop it. We are going to protect everyone, so what if that means teaming up with the Cullens."

Leah was visibly shaking with rage when Seth finished, "You just don't get it do you? You are throwing your life away in this stupid vampire war. We all are and none of us have any fucking choice about it. Why the fuck is everyone ok with this?" 

"Because it's what we have to do to protect everyone. It's our job." Seth murmured so quietly Stiles had to strain to make out the words.

"Well I don't want this fucking job." Leah snarled.

Leah-the-queen-of-dramatic-exits stormed off into the woods leaving Seth standing alone and looking exhausted. All of his earlier confidence was long gone. 

When Seth turned around Stiles tried to pretend like he hadn't just been listening to their entire conversation. He failed miserably at it.

"Heyyyy, how's it going?" Stiles grinning as he tried to act natural.

Seth sighed and rolled his eyes, "Leah is being frustrating like usual." 

"Oh cool..." Stiles replied and pointed out to the woods, "So I'm gonna go for a walk." 

Seth looked a little confused but nodded anyway and Stiles took off before he could make a bigger fool of himself.


	10. Chapter 4; Part 7

Let's make one thing very clear, Stiles makes bad decision. He always has and probably always will. It's a testament to his own stupidity that he doesn't even stop to consider the vampires, werewolves or even bears when he walks into the woods. 

Instead he follows Leah. Stiles doesn't bother being quiet. She's a werewolf; she should be able to hear him from miles away. He just stomps through the bush in the general direction he saw her go. 

It really shouldn't have been as much of a surprise as it was when Leah suddenly dissolved out of the shadows, "Why are you following me?" She growled.

Stiles grasped at his chest and gasped, "Holy shit. I'm having a heart attack." 

Leah just glared menacingly at him. Stiles grinned; her glare didn't even compare to Mr. Grumpy-Pants, aka Derek Hale. 

"You seemed pretty upset and I wanted to know if you needed to talk." Stiles continued on a slightly more serious note.

Leah looked completely shocked, "What?" 

"If you need someone to talk to I'm here. I know it's hard to find people who understand what your going through and would be unbiased." Stiles explained, "-well I can't really promise to be unbiased but I will try my best."

"No...no one has ever asked me that before." Leah murmured softly. 

"Is that a yes?" 

Leah took a step back and started shaking her head, "No, no, no. Leave me alone!" 

"Leah- " Stiles took a step towards her. 

"NO! Stay back. I can't stand to have your scent near me." 

Stiles blinked in confusion, "My scent?" 

"You are human but smell like pack - but not our pack either. You smell like storms and danger and things that don't belong. This isn't your home and my wolf can't stand to have you on our territory." Leah paused, "Just stay away from me please. I don't want your help." 

And with that Leah disappeared back into the woods; leaving Stiles standing there feeling a little dejected and very confused. With a shake of his head he started walking back towards the house.

What Leah had said bothered him. It wasn't so much what she had said but rather that it seemed to bother her and not the rest of the pack. It wasn't surprising she could smell his pack or his spark or even that she viewed him as a trespasser on her territory. Stiles could remember the first time Leah mentioned his scent, _"Like lightning and wolves"_ but it was strange that none of the other wolves had ever mentioned it. 

Could it have something to do with her being the only female shapeshifter? Or maybe it's just because she doesn't trust him so obviously he would smell like an intruder. Maybe the others smell too it but try to overlook it and be polite.

As Stiles walked he let his spark explore the forest. He could feel energy flowing all around him; almost like magical air currents. Stiles felt like he was looking at the world through a whole new perspective. Everything moved in perfect harmony. It was balanced. For some reason it reminded Stiles of Mr. Harris' class and listening to him talk about the transfer of energy. Magic was like that, everything you could ever want is right there. You just need a little spark to start the chain reaction. 

The house was still packed with the pack when Stiles returned. They were all pumped from the training session and the anticipation of the battle. Stiles tried to paste on a smile and join in but there was too much going on inside his head; too much uncertainty and worry. 

"Not in the party mood?" Embry asked, seeing right through Stiles' fake grin.

Stiles relaxed slightly into his familiar presence, "No, parties aren't really my thing - bad experience with some drugged punch." 

"That's alright, I'll take you home." 

"Does anyone know when this fight will happen?." Stiles asked as they slid into a beat up truck that had been sitting in the driveway. Stiles wasn't sure if it was Embry's or belonged to someone else in the pack; but it probably didn't make a difference anyway.

"Apparently whoever's running this shit show is ever indecisive. As soon as they decide to attack Alice will know." Embry replied, "She'll sound the alarm and if we are lucky we will have a couple days' notice." 

Stiles nodded and turned to watch the trees go by. 

"Hey Stiles.." Embry hesitated.

"What is it?" 

"How did you like watching training today?" Embry fidgeted in his seat.

"It was good, the vampire's aren't what I expected but I don't think they are as invincible as they seem." Stiles eyed him suspiciously.

Embry gave a harsh laugh, "Of course."

"What?"

Embry pulled the truck into Stiles' driveway, parked and then turned and gave him the saddest grin Stiles had ever seen. "How bad is it that I was hoping training would scare you into reconsidering fighting? But that's not you is it? I bet you I could talk for hours about the million reasons why you shouldn't fight but you wouldn't listen to a single one." 

Without even breathing Embry barreled on, "But I have to try anyway because I'm scared Stiles. I'm scared not all of us will make it through this and I know you can handle yourself but you are human and that makes you the 2nd biggest target on the entire battlefield. I'm not going to try and stop you from fighting but can you please promise me that you won't do anything too stupid and for god's sake please be careful." 

_"Embry..."_ Stiles tried to put all the emotions coursing through him into words, _"I promise."_

_

The next practice was very similar. Bella sat in the corner and watched Edward, Edward and Jacob avoided each other, Leah and Rosalie had too much fun trying to beat each other up, the younger wolves were periodically rotated in but only for the easy stuff, Alice seemed strangely happy and Jasper taught everyone how not to go for the 'obvious' kill. 

It seemed easy enough in theory but as the wolves started to practice, they were disastrous at it. Even though Stiles only saw 1/3rd of all the fights he could still tell right when they were about to try and finish it. It was all in the way they tried to fake it. A half-assed growl or lunge wasn't going to cut it. They had to make those newbies think they were going for the kill every single time. And when they did finally decide to there had to be no hesitation or they would end up being the ones who were dead. This was a life or death scenario and they were practicing like it was for a lacrosse game or something.

This was going to be one gruesome fight. They had to kill every single one of the vamps, and they had to get up-close-and-personal to do it. It wasn't like some human war with guns and bombs were you could sit back and kill your enemies from a distance. 

Wait a minute. _Bombs._ That's it. That's the solution he has been looking for. Stiles needed to get his hands on Lydia's molotov cocktail recipe like yesterday. With the cocktails he could stash them all around the woods and be able to keep a distance between himself and the vamps. It was perfect; if he timed his shots right he could probably take out multiple vamps at a time and maybe even set some traps for them too. It worked well enough on a batshit crazy werewolf; it would be perfect for the highly flammable vampires. Stiles' mind was racing with different ideas and plans. He needed ingredients, a recipe, and hopefully the location of the battle, he would need to warn the Cullens and the pack. Suddenly he felt someone watching him and when looked up there was Edward's wide eyes staring at him. Oh shit.

 _Please don't tell._ Stiles thought at Edward. _It's important._

When Edward didn't immediately start screaming bloody murder Stiles counted it as a win. When he gave Stiles one last suspicious glare and turned back to practice Stiles counted it as a whole fucking victory.

-

Stiles plan was simple sneak into Forks posing as a student; find the chemistry supply cabinet and take whatever he needed. In the end he had decided not to use Lydia's recipe because asking for that would raise too many questions. Instead Stiles just googled his own and is tweaking it a little.

Getting into Forks High was surprisingly easy. Stiles just walked in and because of his age and the backpack slung around his shoulders no one gave him a second glance. Despite being a rather small school no one immediately recognized him as an outsider. Stiles supposed a couple people would have seen him around town but they wouldn't be surprised to see him at the only high school within 50 miles. To the rest of them he was just another face in a crowd. Only a few would go home and wonder about the strange kid they had never seen before but by then it wouldn't matter.

Hell, even finding the chemistry room only took Stiles like 5 minutes. He just followed the flow of students and BAM! All the science labs in one nice little hallway. A quick peak into them shows that the supply closet connects to the classrooms on both sides and teachers preparing for their morning class in both of them. 

"You don't actually think that will work will you?"

"Holy shit!" Stiles exclaimed as he completely jumped out of his skin. He spun around and came face to face with everyone's favorite vampire Edward, "What the fuck man?"

"The Quileute Pack isn't the first werewolves you've met." It was a statement, not a question.

"You already know that." Stiles drew his shields in closer around him mind. There was no point in pretending he wasn't blocking his thoughts now.

"How are you hiding your thoughts from me?" The furrow in his brow was the first expression to cross Edward's face. It was unnerving how stony he was.

"What do you want?" Stiles cut straight to the point.

"What are you hiding?" Edward accused.

"Not as much as you are, I promise." Stiles barked back.

Edward drew his lips back in a silent snarl.

"Edward, please. We are in public." Alice cut in, gracefully placing herself between them and completely taking control of the situation, "You are not going to tell the pack about what you found out. The wolves block out many of my visions but from what I've seen of Stiles he wouldn't do this without a reason. I trust him." 

Stiles barely had any time to absorb her words before she turned her attention on him, "Hi, have we been introduced yet? Never mind it doesn't matter. I am Alice, you are Stiles and we are going to be friends. I already have the supplies you were looking for. Come on, they are in my car."

Alice was a tornado and Stiles was trapped in the storm. 

"You're a strange one. I tried to look into your future after I saw you at the training the other day but it's like you popped out of nowhere. All I can see are brief things like what your going to eat for breakfast or what you are going to where. I can't see you where you are at the reserve, I can't see you when you go back to Beacon Hills, hell the only things that actually come through clearly are when you are with me." Alice chatted away.

"Beacon Hills? How do you know I live there?" Stiles asked suspiciously.

Alice gave him an _are-you-kidding-me-look_ , "It's a small town. I asked."

Alice stopped beside a yellow Porshe 911 Turbo; a car worth more than Stiles would probably make in his entire life, "You like?" She asked, popping the trunk open.

"I think I'll stick with my jeep. Thank you very much." Stiles replied with a small grin. Nothing could ever replace his baby.

"Here you go. Please don't blow yourself up there is still so much fun for us to have." Alice smiled and passed him large box. 

Alice had held the box like it was nothing but Stiles nearly crumbled under it's weight, "T-thanks." He choked out, trying to regain his balance.

"I'll give you a call when the battle comes. Be ready." 

"Why are you helping me?" Stiles asked out of both curiosity and suspicion. 

"Because you are important, I can feel it in my bones." Alice replied before dancing off, "See ya later Stiles."

All Stiles could do was gape. Damn, she ranked up there with Lydia Martin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If everything goes as planned the next chapter should be the battle scene you've been waiting for!


	11. Chapter 4; Part 8

Alice's box of goodies contained everything Stiles could ever need. He recognized the molotov cocktail ingredients right away, as well as the container of mountain ash, but the box was also stuffed with a variety of other magical objects and an actual grimoire too. Stiles tried to rein in his excitement as he scanned through the stuff that Alice had kindly labelled in flawless handwriting. There was vampire blood, a handful of griffin feathers, a single mermaid scale, a sealed orb of phoenix ash, werewolf claws, the hair of a unicorn, even fucking fairy dust, and hidden at the bottom there was a tiny vile of vampire venom with Alice's writing underneath; _Just in case, but be careful it's poisonous to werewolves._

Stiles didn't know what to do with half the stuff let alone how on earth Alice managed to find some of it. It took all of his self-restraint not to drive right in and learn everything he could about the objects. Instead he tried to focus by starting to make the molotov cocktails. They still didn't have any idea when the battle would be and Stiles didn't want to be caught unprepared.

The cocktails were surprisingly simple; just a glass bottle filled with something flammable and a wick used to light the whole thing. In this case Stiles was using gasoline and a little nitroglycerin for an added punch. He worked in the bathroom with the window cranked open because of the overpowering scent and because it would be a bitch to get out of the carpet if he accidentally spilled it.

As he worked Stiles thought about the most effective way to use these little bombs. This wasn't like the Peter incident where Stiles could just step out of the jeep chuck one and it would all be over. This was an army of vampires that were going to go crazy the moment they smelled him. The obvious fix was to hide his scent for as long as he could. Then they would hopefully confuse him for another vampire - until they heard his heartbeat. The second problem was with his ammunition. There was no way in hell Stiles could carry enough of the cocktails to last the entire battle. His best option seemed to be hiding stashes of them around the battlefield and hoping to dear god he reaches them in time. If he could somehow fit his Jeep onto the field as well; it would give him some more protection from the vamps and lessen their advantage of super speed.

Stiles worked until the bathroom was overflowing with the tiny bombs. All these ifs and maybes made his head hurt. There wasn't much more he could do without knowing the battlefield. The methodical work helped him drown out the thoughts and just focus on his hands. By the time he was finished the sun was just beginning to set. Stiles grabbed the grimoire and curled up on his bed. 

The book was incredibly old but whoever owned it last had taken excellent care of it. The pages were faded and it looked like the spine of the book had been repaired several times. There were notes jotted into the margins and entire sections written entirely in archaic latin. Still the book was clearly legible and even had a goddamned table of contents. It was jammed full of everything from magic spells to creature descriptions to potions and a couple herbal tea remedies.

Stiles tried to absorb as much as he possibly could. He read until his eyes were too heavy to keep open and the words began to blur on the pages. Only then did he let sleep claim him.

When his phone rang the next morning Stiles flailed slightly in dazed confusion; grabbing his phone off the nightstand he answering without hesitation. 

"Y'ellow?" Stiles yawned. 

"Stiles, they are coming." A woman's panicked voice buzzed in his ear.

"Alice?" Stiles answered, "Tell me what you saw."

"We were in the clearing - the one my family plays baseball in. It was dusk; tomorrow night probably" Alice's voice shook as she spoke, "There are so many possibilities. I can't find our futures Stiles. I can't find them." 

"Alice, focus. Nothing is certain yet."

"You are there too. They chase you through the woods and you are leading them somewhere but they are about to catch you." Alice's soft sob was muffled by the phone. 

"Don't worry about me. I will be ok."

"I hate this. The wolves make everything so choppy." 

"Alice, you need to stop looking." Stiles said softly, "You've done what you needed to. The battle is going to be dangerous no matter what - but we have been training for this and we are prepared. You have to trust that we will come home safe." 

Suddenly was as muffled voice in the background, Alice's distressed murmurs of agreement and the shuffling of the phone being passed over. 

"Stiles, its Jasper. If you come over Edward will show you to the field so you know what to expect." Unlike Alice, Jasper's voice was calm and collected; his logic and experience outshining any form of emotion going on in his head. 

"Awesome, thanks." 

Less than 15 minutes later Stiles was pulling up the Cullen's epically long driveway with the grimoire and several bags stuffed full of molotov cocktails tossed in the back. Edwardo was already outside waiting for him.

"So where are we going?"

Edward slid into the front seat, "I hope your truck can handle a little off-roading." 

Stiles laughed, "You bet it can. My baby can handle anything."

Edward directed him to a couple well maintained trails behind the house and from there it was just trees and more trees. Sometimes there were hills with more trees and sometimes it was flat with trees, sometimes they were big towering trees as tall as skyscapers and some were little ones just starting to reach the sun. Needless to say Stiles got bored of looking at trees within the first five minutes. 

"How much land does your family own?" Stiles asked. 

"A lot, but most of this area is protected anyway. What we don't own is owned by the state." Edward answered, looking boredly out the window. He probably could have run there in half the time. 

Stiles nodded and tried to focus on driving again. 

"How long does it normally take for people to get suspicious of the fact you don't age?" 

"We can normally stay for about four or five years. Then we all go off to college and Carlisle conveniently gets a better job offer." Edward was sitting perfectly still, too still for any human Stiles mused. He needed a nervous tick, tapping fingers or fidgeting or something that made him seem a little bit less like an icicle. 

"How did you become a vampire?"

"What is this twenty questions?" Edward shot back.

If he could have Stiles would have raised his hands in a mock surrender, "Hey, man just trying to pass the time." 

Edward looked at him suspiciously, "Fine, but you have to answer my questions too."

Stiles paused, weighing the consequence, "Fine, but I reserve the right to pass." 

"That's not how this game works." 

Stiles just glared at him.

Edward sighed, "My mother and I had the Spanish Influenza. Before she died, she begged our doctor to do everything in his power to save me. Carlisle happened to be our doctor and changed me. Why can't I read your mind?"

That was an easy one, "Magic." Stiles shrugged.

"Magic?" Edward raised an eyebrow, "You have magic?"

"Nope, it's my turn to ask now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't get as far as I wanted but I think I've left everyone hanging for long enough. Hope you like it


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